CE  GOTTEN 


COLLECTION 
OF 

NORTH     CAROLINIANA 


iiii«iii"iiiiiii'iii'iiiii  t;.i|iri>-. 


<± 


THE 

Lowric 
istory 


I 


I 

O 


AS  ACTED  IN  PART  BY 

Henry   Berry 
.  .  LOWRIE.  . 


i 

o 


A.  W.  McLEAN,  R.  D.  CALDWELL, 

President.  Vice-Prest. 

C.  B.  TOWNSEND,  A.  E.WHITE, 

Active  Vice-Prest.  Vice-Prest. 

A.  W.  PEACE,  A.  T.  McLEAN, 

Cashier.  Asst.  Cashier. 


The  Bank  of  Lumberton 

CAPITAL  $100,000.00 

Assets  and  Responsibility 
Over  One-half  Million 
Dollars        .... 

LUMBERTON,    N.    CAROLINA. 
ORGANIZED     1897 


^mmm  mf  tn 


If  you  want  your  money  with  a  Bank  that  has  stood  the 
test  of  time — that  deals  promptly,  squarely  and  liberally 
with  its  patrons;  that  pays  the  highest  possible  rate  of 
interest,  within  conservative  bounds,  for  your  idle 
money;  in  fact,  if  you  are  seeking  the  services  of  an  ex- 
perienced, safely  managed  Bank,  call  on  us  or  write  for 
information.  We  invite  small  accounts  as  well  as  the 
large  ones     ......... 

Yours  for  service, 
A.  W.  PEACE,  Cashier. 

Four  per  cent,  interest  paid  on  Savings  Deposits,  Com- 
pounded  Every  Three  Months 


THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY 


AS  ACTED  IN  PART  BY 


Henry   Berry   Lowrie, 


THE 


Great  North  Carolina  Bandit, 

WITH  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH  OF 

HIS  ASSOCIATES. 


ILLUSTRATED. 


Being  a  Complete  History  of  the  Modern  Robber  Band  in  the  County 
of  Robeson  and  State  of  North  Carolina. 


WITH  AN  APPENDIX. 


PUBLISHED  BY 

Lumbee  Publishing  Company, 
lumberton,  n.  c. 


COPYWRIGHTED  BY 

E.  E.  PAGE, 

1909. 


\ 


\P_" 


INTRODUCTORY 


s® <IN 


In  re-publishing  this  book  which  records  the  events 
of  a  period  of  Robeson  county's  history  in  the  years  of 
1 864-' 74,  the  publishers  have  thought  it  fitting  and 
proper,  in  justice  to  the  race  of  people,  (some  of  whose 
representatives  figure  in  and  are  the  leading  characters 
of  the  facts  recorded),  that  a  supplement  should  be 
added,  showing  the  growth  and  steady  improvement  of 
the  Indians  of  Robeson  County,  and  to  accomplish  this 
desired  end  we  do  not  know  of  anything  better  than  to 
copy,  in  part,  an  article  written  by  Col.  A.  F.  Olds,  of 
Raleigh,  N.  C,  who  visited  this  saction  of  Robeson 
County  and  came  in  personal  touch  with  the  Croatan 
Indians,  and  has  therefore  written  from  personal  ob- 
servation. We  are  therefore  indebted  to  Col.  Olds 
for  this  interesting  bit  of  history,  which  forms  the  ap- 
pendix to  this  volume. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  the  facts  recorded  in  this 
book  were  written  by  one  who  knew  the  cause  and 
result  of  this  unfortunate  period  of  Robeson's  his- 
tory, having  lived  "through  the  thick  or  the  fight",  and 
gained  the  information  recorded  by  actual  experience. 
The  historian  referred  to  is  Mrs.  Mary  C.  Norment,  of 
Elrod,N.  C,  from  whom  the  copy-right  of  this  book  has 
been  purchased  by  the  publishers. 

This  is  the  fourth  edition  of  this  history. 

THE  PUBLISHERS. 


The  Lowrie  History. 

GENEALOGY. 

James  Lowrie,  a  tall  well-proportioned,  fine  looking, 
respectable  Indian  first  settled  in  Robeson  county  about 
the  year  1769.  This  was  Bladen  county  at  that  time. 
On  the  9th  of  August,  1769,  James  Lowrie  bought  a 
tract  of  land  containing  one  hundred  acres  from  Wil- 
liam Fort,  to  whom  it  was  granted  by  George  II.  in 
1748.  He  also  entered  another  tract  of  land  contain- 
ing three  hundred  acres  adjoining  the  above  tract,  the 
grant  being  signed  by  George  III.  On  the  above  men- 
tioned tracts  of  land,  now  owned  by  the  heirs  of  the 
late  Col.  Archibald  McEachern,  James  Lowrie  first 
settled. 

About  five  hundred  yards  below  the  residence  of  Col. 
McEachern,  in  a  bend  of  the  swamp,  is  shown  the  place 
where  James  Lowrie  resided.  McPhaul's  mills,  on  the 
same  swamp,  are  distant  about  three  miles.  This  swamp 
was  called  Lowrie  Swamp, after  James  Lowrie,  who  re- 
sided on  it.  A  ford  at  the  time  he  lived  there  crossed 
the  swamp  at  his  residence.  Here  he  raised  stock, 
farmed  in  a  small  way  and  kept  a  tavern  during  the 
Revolutionary  War.  James  Lowrie  first  came  to  Robe- 
son (then  Bladen  county)from  Bute  county, (now  Frank- 
lin and  Warren  counties)  in  company  with  Silas  Atkins, 
who  emigrated  also  from  Bute  county,  from  that  por- 
tion now  called  Franklin.  OLher  families  also,  viz.  the 
Thompsons, Kitchens  Coles,  Drakes,  Moores, Humphreys, 
Bridgers,  and  whose  descendants  still  live  in  Robeson, 


THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY.  5 

came  to  Bladen  county,  (now  Robeson)  from  that  part 
of  North  Carolina  embraced  now  in  the  counties  of 
Franklin,  Warren,  Nash  and  Edgecombe  and  settled 
here  about  the  time  that  Silas  Atkins  first  built  on  the 
tract  of  land  now  owned  by  "William  H.   Graham. 

James  Lowrie,  frcm  whom  all  the  Lowries  in  Robe- 
son descended,  lived  in  Franklin  county  before  he  em- 
igrated to  Robeson.  It  was  in  Franklin  county,  N.  C, 
that  he  was  manumitted  by  his  father,  James  Lowrie, 
of  Virginia,  who  when  Virginia  became  one  of  the 
United  States,  was  elected  a  Judge,  and  was  ever  after- 
wards known  as  Judge  Lowrie.  He  was  of  cavalier 
stock  and  characterized  by  elegance  and  refinement  of 
manners,  tall  and  commanding  in  personal  appearance, 
urbane,  courtly  and  genteel  in  his  whole  deportment. 
It  was  in  Franklin  county  that  James  Lowrie  married. 
His  wife's  maiden  name  was  Sarah  Kearsey,  (nicknamed 
Sally  Kearsy,)  a  half-breed  Tuscarora  Indian  woman, 
and  from  this  couple  all  the  Lowries  in  Robeson  trace 
back  their  origin. 

The  above  statement  in  regard  to  the  origin  of  the 
Lowrie  family  in  Robeson  county  is  not  current  rumor, 
but  a  true  statement,  as  given  by  James  Lowrie  him- 
self and  corroborated  by  Silas  Atkins,  with  whom  he 
came  to  Robeson  county  in  1769,  also  confirmed  by  the 
late  Neil  Brown,  Esq.,  who  lived  on  Richland  Swamp; 
by  the  late  Mrs.  Nancy  Smith,  mother  of  Rev.  A.Smith, 
who  also  lived  on  Richland  Swamp;  by  the  late  Samp- 
son Bridgers,  *  father  of  J.  D.  Bridgers,  Esq.,  by  Henry 
Thompson;  by  Nathan  Thompson;  by  John  Thompson, 
by  Peter  Monroe,  and  last,  though  not  least,  by  the  late 
John   Gilchrist,    Esq.,    long  a  practicing  lawyer  at  the 


6  THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY. 

Lumberton  Bar,  whose  father  bought  out  James  Lowrie 
in  1791,  at  the  close  of  the  Revolutionary  War. 

James  Lowrie  had  three  sons,  viz:  William,  Thomas 
and  James,  and  at  the  commencement  of  the  Revolu- 
tionary War  William,  his  oldest,  being  then  about 
grown,  entered  into  the  struggle  for  independence  and 
joined  the  brave  and  patriotic  band,  then  under  the 
command  of  that  noble  Whig  patriot,  Col.  Thomas  Rob- 
eson, after  whom  and  in  honor  of  whom  Robeson  coun- 
ty was  named.  William  Lowrie  made  a  good  Whig 
soldier  and  fought  side  by  side  with  the  whites  in  every 
skirmish  and  battle  in  which  Col. Robeson  was  engaged. 
Whilst  piloting  Col.  Wade  and  his  men  across  Drowning 
Creek,  after  a  massacre  at  Piney  Bottom,  in  Cumber- 
land county,  William  Lowrie  received  a  severe  sword 
cut  in  his  left  hand  from  a  Tory  named  James  McPher- 
son,  who  resided  on  the  place  then  owned  by  Col. 
Charles  Malloy,  now  Laurel  Hill  Church,  in  Richmond 
county. 

The  skirmish  between  Col.  Wade's  men  and  the  To- 
ries took  place  on  the  spot  of  ground  on  which  Mont- 
pelier  Church  was  erected,  near  Bettie's  bridge,  now 
Gilchrist's  bridge, in  the  upper  portion  of  Robeson  coun- 
ty, immediately  on  Drowning  Creek,  in  Robeson  coun- 
ty, and  William  Lowrie  carried  the  marks  of  this  wound 
to  his  erave  as  a  token  of  his  devotion  to  the  Whig 
cause.  After  the  close  of  the  Revolutionary  War  Wil- 
liam Lowrie  received  a  pension  for  this  same  sword  cut 
from  the  government  up  to  the  day  of  his  death,  as  the 
records  in  the  Pension  Office  at  Washington  City  will 
show. 

The  other  two  sons  of  James  Lowrie,  viz:  Thomas 
and  James,  were  of  tender  age  and   too  young  to  enter 


THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY.  7 

the  service.  The  feelings  and  sentiments  of  James 
Lowie,  their  father,  were  on  the  Whig  side,  although  he 
took  no  active  part  either  way.  Living,  however,  so 
near  to  McPhaul's  Mill,  (a  distance  of  not  more  than 
three  miles)  the  then  general  rendezvous  or  head-quar- 
ters of  the  Tories  from  the  whole  adjacent  country,  he 
became  obnoxious  to  them  on  account  of  his  son  Wil- 
liam being  in  the  Whig  ranks. 

Soon  after  the  close  of  the  Revolutionary  War,  pre- 
judices becoming  so  rife  against  him  and  his  son  Wil- 
liam, on  account  of  Whig  principles,  James  Lowrie 
sold  out  on  Lowrie  Swamp  to  John  Gilchrist  in 
1791,  and  moved  down  on  Drowning  Creek,  near  his 
old  friend  Silas  Atkins  and  settled  on  the  place  now 
known  as  "the  Harper  Ferry  place."  Here  he  kept  a 
house  of  entertainment  for  the  traveling  public,  in  con- 
nection with  a  grocery  or  drinking  saloon.  Here  he 
died,  leaving  land  and  negroes  to  his  children  and  a 
good  name  to  his  posterity.  Here,  in  Lowrie's  grocery, 
Col.  Vick,  then  merchandising  at  Fair  Bluff,  in  Robe- 
son county.  (Vicksburg  in  Mississippi  being  named  after 
him)  christened  (to  use  a  scotch  phrase)  all  that  region 
lying  East  of  Drowing  Creek  and  extending  one  or  two 
Miies  East  of  Bear  Swamp  with  the  euphonious  soubrique  t 
of  Scuftietown,  from  the  fact  of  the  half  breeds  inhabit- 
ing that  region  congregating  in  Lowrie's  grocery  and 
after  imbibing  pretty  freely  of  whiskey,  in  engaging  in 
the  broad  shuffle,  and  also  from  the  fact  that  it  was 
generally  a  scuffle  with  these  people  to  live  — "to  keep 
the  soul  and  body  together,"  owing  to  their  improvident 
habits.  After  the  death  of  James  Lowrie,  his  son  Wil- 
liam Lowrie  married  Bettie  Locklaer,  a  half-breed 
Tuscarora  Indian  woman(  Locklaer  meaning  "hold  fast"). 


8  THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY. 

Thomas  Lowrie,  his  second  son,  married  Nancy  Deas, 
a  white  woman.  James  Lowrie,  his  third  son,  never 
married.  Allen  Lowrie,  a  son  of  William  Lowrie,  mar- 
ried Pollie  Cumba,  a  woman  of  Portuguese  extraction. 
He  raised  a  large  family  of  sons  and  daughters;  and  four 
of  his  sons,  viz:  William  Lowrie,  Steve  Lowrie,  Thomas 
Lowrie,  Henry  Berry  Lowrie,  were  concerned  in  the 
depredations  committed  in  the  county  of  Robeson,  from 
their  inception,  while  it  is  due  to  history  to  record  that 
his  other  sons  had  no  connection  whatever  with  their 
four  brothers  engaged  in  robbing.  Henry  Berry  Lowrie, 
one  of  the  younger  brothers,  assumed  the  command  of 
the  Robber  Band  and  was  styled  Chief.  Two  other 
members  of  the  Robber  Band,  viz;  Calvin  and  Hender- 
son Oxendine,  lineally  descended  from  the  Lowrie  fam- 
ily, on  the  mother's  side.  Boss  and  Andrew  Strong, 
two  other  members  of  the  band,  and  Lowrie  blood 
coursing  their  veins,  their  mother  being  of  the  Lowrie 
stock;  their  father,  John  Strong  was  a  white  man,  who 
come  into  Robeson  county  and  settled  in  Scuffle- 
town.  An  accident  connected  with  the  history  of  John 
Strong  was  related  to  the  writer  several  years  ago. 
At  the  Fall  Term  of  the  Superior  Court  of  Robeson  in 
1843,  John  B.  Kelly,  Esq.,  of  Moore  county,  then  a 
practicing  Lawyer  at  the  Lumberton  Bar,  meet  up  with 
John  Strong,  whom  he  knew  personally,  and  addressed 
him  as  Gorman.  Strong  replied  and  said  his  name  was 
Strong.  John  B.  Kelly  replied  and  told  him  to  be  off, 
for  he  wns  a  villian.  Having  killed  a  man  in  Alamance 
county,  he  fled  to  Robeson  to  save  his  neck  and  assum- 
ed the  name  of  Strong,  but  his  real  name  was  Gorman. 
Two  other  members  of  the  Robber  Band,  viz:  William 
Chavis  and  George  Applewhite,  (formerly  a  slave,  )were 


THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY.  9 

connected  with  the  Lowrie  family  by  marriage.  The 
only  members  of  the  Robber  gang  that  were  not  con- 
nected with  the  Lowrie  family  by  affinity  or  consan- 
guinity, were  Zach  T.  McLauchlin,  a  low-bred  youth  of 
Scottish  descent,  Shoemaker  John,  a  negro  and  William 
Chavis,  a  bright  half-breed  Indian.  These-  Henry  Ber- 
ry Lowrie,  Chief;  Stephen  Lowrie,  Wiliiam  Lowrie, 
Thomas  Lowrie,  Calvin  Oxendine,  Henderson  Oedine, 
Boss  Strong,  Andrew  Strong,  William  Chavis,  George 
Applewhite,  being  all  kinfolk,  together  with  Zach  T. 
McLauchlin,  Shoemaker  John,  and  William  Chavis, 
were  concerned  all  of  them,  in  robberies,  murders,  and 
depredations  committed  in  the  county  of  Robeson,  from 
the  latter  part  of  the  year,  A.  D.,  1864,  to  February 
24th,  A.  D.  1874. 


DESCRIPTION  OF  THE  LOWRIE  ROBBERS. 


Pen  and  ink  sketches  of  personages  convey  very  often 
but  faint  ideas  of  individuals,although  they  may  be  cor- 
rect in  every  particular.  It  is  very  difficult  to  impress 
most  minds  with  distinct  ideas  of  things  without  presen- 
tation of  the  object  to  the  eyes,  they  being  the  mirrow, 
as  it  were,  that  reflect  images  on  the  mental  vision. 
However,  we  will  attempt  a  description  of  the  Lowrie 
Bandits,  for  the  benefit  of  those  who  have  never  seen 
them: 

HENRY  BERRY  LOWRIE,  THE  LEADER  OF  THE  BAND. 

Henry  Berry  Lowrie,  the  leader  of  the  band,  is  a  son 
of  Allen  Lowrie,  and  a  great  grand-son  of  James  Low- 
rie, from  whom  all  the  the  Lowries  in  Robeson  descend- 
ed.     He  is  of  mixed  blood,  strangely  commingled,  hav- 


10  THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY. 

ing  coursing  his  veins  the  blood  of  the  Tuscarora  In- 
dian, and  the  Cavaliet  blood  of  England.  He  made  a 
handsome  personal  appearance  when  dressed  up.  The 
color  of  his  skin  is  of  a  mixed  white  and  yellow,  par- 
taking of  an  admixture,  resembling  copper,  the  Indian 
color  however,  still  predominating.  Such  a  skin  is  af- 
fected very  little  by  heat  or  cold,  by  sickness  or  health, 
or  by  exposure,  or  good  housing.  A  scar  in  the  shape 
of  a  crescent  and  of  a  blackish  color  is  on  his  face  just 
below  his  left  eye,  said  to  have  been  made  by  an  iron 
pot  falling  on  him  when  a  child.  The  contour  of  his 
face  is  that  of  a  Southron.  His  countenance  is  ex- 
pressive in  the  highest  degree  of  firmness,  decision  of 
character  and  courage.  Generally  he  is  reticent,  a 
good  listener,  seldom  talkative,  manifesting  in  his  de- 
meanor little  or  no  disposition  at  self  importance.  When 
he  converses,  he  talks  like  an  illiterate  man,  conversant 
with  no  books  except  of  nature,  and  human  nature. 
Considering  his  long  career  of  lawlessness,  his  want  of 
education  and  his  race,  he  is  a  prodigy.  Phrenologi- 
cally  speaking,  his  forehead  is  good,  high,  broad  and 
massive;  the  color  of  his  eyes  is  a  grayish  hazel,  and 
when  excited  and  agitated,  would  dilate  and  expand. 
A  smile  generally  played  over  his  countenance  when  quiet 
but  when  aroused  it  was  a  smile  of  a  demon.  He  wore  a 
dark  goatee.his  hair  was  straight  and  black  like  an  Indian's. 
He  was  twenty-six  years  old,  five  feet  ten  inches  high, 
and  weighs  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  pounds.  Physi- 
cally he  was  well  knit,  straight  in  the  back,  his  arms  and 
shoulders  fitting  on  well,  a  deep  broad  chest;  in  short, 
proportioned  throughout  without  a  flaw  in  his  frame. 
Like  an  india  lubber  ball,    he  was  elastic  all  over.      In 


THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY.  11 

his  dress  he  was    rather    careless    and  negligent.      He 
generally  wore  calf-skin   boots,   a   woolen  frock  coat  or 
blouse, breeches  or  trousers  of  the  same  material,  mostly, 
however,   of   Salem   or  Kentucky   Jeans,    with    a   wide 
brimmed  felt  hat.      Although  a  tippler,    he  was  never 
known  to  be  intoxicated,    he  invariably  carried  a  flask 
of  whiskey  with  him  wheresoever  he    went.      He  did 
this  to  avoid  being  poisoned  by  promiscuous  drinking. 
In  regard  to  his  arms:    a  belt  around   his  waist  kept 
in  place  five  six  barrelled     revolvers  -long    shooters; 
from  this  belt  a  shoulder  strap  passes  up  and  supports 
behind,  slinging  style,  a  Henry  rifle,    which   carries  the 
extraordinary  number  of  sixteen  cartridges.      In  addi- 
tion to  these  fifty-two  charges,  he  carried  a  long  bladed 
knife  and  a  double-barrelled  shot  gun,  his  whole  equip- 
ment weighing  not  less  than  eighty  pounds.      His  main 
olqect  in  thus  equipping  himself  was  doubtless  to  stand  a 
long  campaign,  or  to  be  ready  with  almost  an  arsenal  at 
at  his  command,   to  encounter  a  large  body  of  men  in 
pursuit  of  him.      With  all  his  armor  on  he  could  run, 
swim,   stand   weeks  of  exposure  in  the  swamps,    walk 
day  and  night  and  take  sleep  by  little  snatches,   which 
in  a  few  days  would  tire  out  white  or  negro.      Being 
fond    of    blood  he    has  waged  for  the    past    ten   years 
a  savage  predatory    warfare  against  the  county,  State, 
Confederate  and  United  States  authority.      Without  ad- 
vantages other  than  nature  gave  him,  without  fear,with- 
out  hope,  defying  society,  he  carried  out  his  tactics  in  a 
peculiar  way,  impressing  the  whole  population  with   his 
superiority,    power  and  influence  as   a  brigand  leader 
and    executive   spirit.      Occasionally  his  blood  and  in- 
clinations will  crop  out,    and  two  natures  of  white  and 


12  THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY. 

Indian  will  come  forward  and  show  themselves  to  the 
close  observer,  and  in  a  way  unlooked  for.  He  plays 
on  banjo,  together  with  the  Juba  beating  and  dancing 
of  the  Indian  giris,  has  on  several  occasions  come  very 
near  betraying  him  to  his  pursurers.  His  Indian  nature 
may  be  traced  in  his  character,  by  his  using  women  as 
an  auxilliary  to  war  and  plunder.  He  himself  is  the 
Don  Juan  of  Scuffietown.  Women  have  been  employ- 
ed to  betray  him,  but  they  either  repent  or  he  discovers 
their  purpose.  He  sleeps  on  his  arms  and  never  seems 
tired;  ever  active,  ever  vigilent,  he  is  never  taken  by 
surprise.  His  cavalier  scrupulousness  may  also  be  ob- 
served in  the  matter  of  a  promise  or  a  treaty.  Those 
most  robbed  aud  outraged  by  this  bandit  give  him  credit 
for  complying  strictly  to  his  word.  Like  the  rattle- 
snake, he  generally  warned  before  he  stuck.  Two 
things  he  has  never  done— he  has  never  commited  arson, 
nor  offered  to  insult  white  females.  In  these  two  things 
may  be  traced  his  cavalier  blood. 

The  price  offerd  ($10,000)  for  his  capture  by  the  con- 
stituted authorities  of  the  State  is  probably  the  greatest 
that  has  ever  been  offered  for  any  offender  of  common 
law — any  criminal  or  outlaw  in  American  history  since 
Jefferson  Davis'  fight;  and  why  should  it  not  be?  fcr 
Henry  Berry  Lowrie,  the  Robber  Chief,  has  made  a 
personal  and  bloody  campaign  against  society,  longer 
than  the  whole  Revolutionary  war,  killing  sometimes 
for  plunder,  revenge,  or  defense,  refusing  to  trust  any, 
even  those  of  his  own  color,  except  those  who,  like  him- 
self, had  shed  innocent  blood  and  put  themselves  out  of 
the  path  of  society.  In  this  way  he  collected  a  pack  of 
murderers,  whom  he  commanded  with  absolute  sway. 


THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY.  13 

He  also  arrogated  to  himself  a  protectorate  over  the  in- 
terests of  all  the  Indians  in  Scuffletown,  which  they  re- 
turned by  a  sort  of  hero-workship.  Cold-blooded, 
malignant  and  murderous  bandit  and  robber  he  is,  and 
blood-stained  with  many  murders,  he  is  without  de- 
fenders. 

In  the  twentieth  year  of  his  age  he  led  up  to  the  mar- 
riage alter,  as  his  bride,  Rhoda  Strong,  a  cousin  of  his; 
a  daughter  of  John  Strong  alias  Gorman,  deceased,  said 
to  be  in  her  sixteenth  year,  and  one  of  the  handsomest 
and  prettiest  Indian  girls  in  all  Scuffletown,  sartirically 
nick-named  by  some  white  young  wag  "the  Queen  of 
Scuffletown."  The  marriage  ceremony  was  performed 
by  Hector  J.  McLean,  Esq.,  at  the  old  Lowrie  home- 
stead, in  the  presence  of  Alexander  Cobb,  a  white  man 
a  score  or  two  of  Indians,  relations  of  the  bride  and 
bridegroom.  As  soon  as  the  ceremony  was  through 
with,  A.  J.  McNair,  with  a  posse  of  men,  arrested  Hen- 
ry Berry  Lowrie  as  the  murderer  of  James  P.  Barnes, 
and  hurried  him  off  to  jail  in  Lumberton,  from  whence 
he  was  carried  to  Whiteville,  in  Columbus  county  and 
placed  in  jail  there,  where  he  was  heavily  ironed.  Here 
he  filed  his  way  out  of  the  grated  iron  window  bars, 
escaped  to  the  woods  with  hand  cuffs  on,  and  made  his 
way  back  to  his  wife  in  Scuffletown.  This  was  in  1866. 
This  was  the  first  escape  ever  effectedby  a  criminal  con- 
fined in  the  jailatWhitesville.  How  he  came  in  possession 
of  a  file,  no  one  in  the  confidence  of  the  whites  can  tell. 
Again  in  1868  Henry  Berry  Lowrie  was  formally  com- 
mitted to  jail  in  Lumberton  by  B.  A.  Howell,  Sheriff  of 
Robeson.  This  time  also  he  made  his  escape  by  frighten- 
ing the  jailor  when  he  carried    him  his  allowance  of 


14  THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY. 

food,  with  a  cocked  pistol  in  his  hand.  He  told  the 
jailor  to  stand  aside  and  let  him  pass  out  of  the  door, 
threatening  to  kill  him  if  he  made  an  alarm  in  fifteen 
minutes.  Although  twice  in  the  hands  of  the  officers  of 
the  law,  he  has  never  been  held  to  answer  at  the  bar  of 
justice  for  his  many  crimes. 

From  the  day  he  made  his  escape  from  the  jail  in 
Whiteville,  he  has  led  the  precarious  life  of  a  hunted 
man,  robber  and  murderer,  showing  at  all  times  and 
under  all  circumstances  a  ferocity,  insolence  and  pre- 
meditation frightful  to  behold,  destructive  of  all  order 
and  subversive  of  all  good  government. 

Here  an  accident  showing  the  insolence  of  this  outlaw 
to  the  civil  authorities  of  the  county  will  be  sketched  for 
ths  outside  world,  which  is  literally  true  in  every  par- 
ticular. When  for  prudential  reasons  the  County  Com- 
missioners ordered  the  Sheriff  of  the  county  to  arrest 
Rhoda  Lowrie,  the  wife  of  the  outlaw  chief,  he,  with 
the  whole  robber  band,  went  to  Mr.  John  McNair's 
residence,  (Mr.  John  McNair  having  been  robbed  by 
them  more  than  a  score  of  times),  the  Robber  Chief 
addressed  Mr.  McNair  as  follows:  "Mr.  McNair  I  want 
you  to  gear  up  and  go  to  Lumberton,  where  they  have 
put  my  wife  in  jail,  for  no  crime  but  because  she  is  my 
wife.  That  ain't  her  fault  and  they  can't  make  it  so. 
You  go  to  Lumberton  and  tell  the  Sheriff  and  County 
Commissioners  that  if  they  don't  let  her  out  of  jail,  I'll 
retaliate  on  the  white  women  of  Burnt  Swamp  Town- 
ship. Some  of  them  shall  come  to  the  swamp,  with  me, 
if  she  is  kept  in  jail,  because  they  can't  get  me." 

The  swamp  alluded  to  above,  was  the  Back  Swamp, 
in  which  the  outlaw  band  had  their  secret  camp,  and 


THE  LOWR1E  HISTORY.  15 

on  the  banks  of  which  Henry  Berry  Lowrie  had  erected 
a  log  cabin  for  his  wife  to  live  in.  This  eabin  was  built 
pretty  much  after  style  of  the  other  cabius  in  Scuffle- 
town,  except  that  it  had  two  doors,  on  the  sides  opposite 
each  other,  a  plank  floor,  a  small  window  on  the  end 
near  the  chimney,  with  a  trap-door  on  the  floor,  lead- 
ing into  an  underground  passage  some  sixty  yards  in 
length,  which  terminated  in  the  swamp  near  by, through 
which  the  Robber  Chief  had  escaped  on  several  oc- 
casions when  surprised  by  his  pursuers.  This  cabin 
now  lies  in  ruins,  being  deserted,  the  yard  covered  with 
tall  weeds  and  the  underground  passage  filled  up. 
Desolation  seems  to  brood  over  it,  and  nothing  but  the 
long,  foreboding  note  of  the  ill-omended  owl,  when  he 
utters  his  "tuwit"  near  by  in  the  swamps,  break  the  si- 
lence of  the  night  there. 

STEVE  LOWRIE. 

Steve  Lowrie,  when  killed  was  in  his  thirty-sixth 
year;  he  was  five  feet  ten  inches  high,  and  would  weigh 
about  one  hundred  and  seventy  pounds;thick  set, round- 
shouldered,  heavy  and  of  great  muscular  power,  impu- 
dent in  manner;  insolent  in  speech,  showing  the  high- 
way-robber and  exhibiting  in  his  personal  appearance 
more  of  the  Indian  brigand  than  any  of  the  outlaw  gang. 
His  hair  was  thick,  black  and  straight;  his  moustache 
thin,  black  and  short;  a  mean  countenance,  with  black- 
ish hazel  eyes,  indicating  the  robber  and  murderer  of 
the  Murrel  stamp;  just  such  a  character  as  needed  no 
prevocation  to  prowl  around  the  county  by  day  and 
night.  He,  too,  is  a  son  of  Allen  Lowrie,  and  the  oldest 
of  the  gang.     He  had  an  insatiable  love  for  robbery,  and 


16  THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY. 

possessed  an  imperious  temper,  which  involved  him  on 
one  occasion  in  a  quarrel  with  his  younger  brother,Hen- 
ry  Berry  Lowrie,who  shot  him  in  the  eye  for  insubordi- 
nation. He  had  the  meanest  look  of  any  of  the  gang, 
and  he  was  more  feared  by  any  unlucky  victim  that 
happened  to  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  outlaws.  Steve 
Lowrie  has  been  concerned  in  every  robbery  and  shoot- 
ing committed  by  the  outlaw  gang.  He  it  was  that 
raised  his  gun  and  filled  the  unfortunate  prisoner,  John 
Sanders,  the  detective,  with  a  charge  of  buck-shot 
when  blindfolded  and  tied  to  a  tree.  For  being  impli- 
cated in  the  murder  of  ex-Sherift  Reuben  King  he  was 
outlawed,  apprehended,  confined  in  jail  and  tried  as  a 
murderer  at  Whiteville  Court  and  found  guilty.  His 
lawyer  taking  an  appeal  to  the  Supreme  Court,  Steve 
was  remanded  back  to  jail,  and  before  his  case  came  up 
for  a  hearing  before  the  Judges  on  the  Supreme  Court 
Bench,  made  his  escape  and  returned  to  his  old  haunts 
in  Scuffletown. 

TOM    LOWRIE. 

Another  member  of  the  outlaw  gang,  and  a  brother  to 
Henry  Berry  and  Steve  Lowrie,  was  Indian-Gipsy  look- 
ing. Tom  Lowrie,  was  a  darker  hue  and  exhibiting  in 
his  countenance  a  more  sneaking  look  than  his  brothers. 
He  has  been  described  elsewhere  under  the  caption, 
"The  Killing  of  Tom  Lowrie,"  which  the  reader  can  see 
by  referring  to  that  head.  An  incident  not  mentioned 
there  will  be  related  here.  When  the  unfortunate  John 
Sanders,  the  detective,  was  condemned  to  be  killed,  Tom 
Lowrie  plead  for  his  life,    and  being   unwilling  to  see 


THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY.  17 

his  blood  shed,  slunk  away  until  after  the  affair  was  over. 

Andrew  and  Boss  Strong,  two  brothers,  were  also 
members  of  the  robber  band,  and  are  sketched  else- 
where. They  were  nearly  white,  their  father  being  a 
white  man  and  their  grand  mother  a  white  woman. 
These  five,  viz:  Henry  Berry  Lowrie,  Chief,  Steve 
Lowrie,  Tom  Lowrie,  Andrew  and  Boss  Strong  consti- 
tuted the  robber  band  after  the  general  jail  delivery  in 
Wilmington. 

John  Dial,  who  turned  State's  evidence,  was  probab- 
ly as  bad  as  any  of  the  gang.  He  had  a  wart  as  large  as 
a  marble,  directly  under  the  left  eye  on  the  side  of  his 
nose.  He  had  a  fierce  look.  The  other  members  of  the 
gang  charged  him  with  perjury  on  his  evidence  before 
Court  at  Whiteville.  He  charged  George  Applewhite, 
with  the  killing  of  ex-Sheriff  King.  The  rest  of  the 
outlaws  said  that  it  was  John  Dial  who  fired  the  fatal 
shot,  with  a  pistol,  that  terminated  the  earthly  career  of 
that  hale  old  citizen.  It  was  John  Dial  who  shot  S.  E. 
Ward  in  Reuben  King's  parlor. 

Henderson  Oxendine,  another  one  of  the  gang,  has 
been  portrayed  in  the  section  headed  "the  fate  of  Hen- 
derson Oxendine, "  which  see.  Calvin  Oxendine  a  brother 
of  Henderson,  belonged  also  to  the  gang.  They  are  both 
Indians  and  somewhat  resemble  each  other.  Calvin  had 
black  eyes  and  in  their  searching  round,  are  indescribable 
in  their  glare.  They  partake  of  the  expression  of  the 
Bummer  and  of  the  Gypsy,  furtive,  plaintive,  touching 
and  at  the  same  time  repelling.  They  look  like  genius, 
but  are  not;  the  study  of  them  is  a  mystery. 


18  THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY. 

SHOEMAKER  JOHN. 

Shoemaker  John,  so  named  from  his  occupation,  be- 
in^  a  shoemaker  by  trade,  was  a  negro,  as  black  as  a 
crow.  He  possessed  a  round,  full  face,  and  if  he  were 
good  for  anything  it  was  stealing,  being  an  adept  in  that 
business.  He,  together  with  some  of  the  followers  of 
Lowrie's  gang,  went  on  a  robbing  expedition  some  time 
in  the  autumn,  of  1869.  They  first  went  to  the  house  of 
Mrs.  Elizabeth  Carlyle,  on  the  "Saddle  Tree  Swamp," 
in  the  north-eastern  part  of  the  county.  Here  they 
broke  into  the  smoke-house  of  Mrs.  Carlyle,  took  near- 
ly all  of  her  bacon  and  then  entered  her  dwelling  by 
force  and  robbed  it  of  all  its  valuables.  From  Mrs. 
Carlyle's  they  went  to  the  store  of  Messrs.  Biggs  & 
Hodgins,  at  Antioch  Presbyterian  Church,  in  upper 
Robeson,  and  with  augers  bored  into  their  store  and 
took  various  articles  of  merchandise.  They  next  went 
to  Billy  Purcell's  residence,  a  colored  freeman,  and  took 
everything  from  him  of  any  value.  They  then  went 
to  Flora  McFarland's  residence,  near  Blue's  Bridge,  in 
Richmond  county,  and  robbed  her.  They  then  pounced 
on  the  gun  shop  of  ex-sheriff  "William  Buchanan,  of 
Richmond  county,  and  depleted  it  of  every  gun  in  it. 
They  then  wended  their  way  back  to  Scuffietown,  in 
Robeson  county  with  their  booty.  For  this  offense 
Shoemaker  John  was  apprehended  and  tried  at  the 
March  term  of  the  Superior  Court  held  in  Robeson  in 
1871,  and  found  guilty  and  sentenced  to  serve  ten  years 
in  the  State's  penitentiary.  He  appeared  to  be  glad  to 
get  in  the  penitentiary,  for  the  Lowrie  gang  had  threat- 
ened to  kill  him  on  sight,  having  utterly  repudiated  him 
and  his  acts. 


THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY.  19 

WILLIAM  CHAVIS. 

The  Chavis  family  in  Robeson  claim  their  origin 
from  the  celebrated  Cheves  family  of  the  South,  Chavis 
being  an  abbreviation  of  the  name  Cheves,  but  this 
version  of  their  origin  can  hardly  be  correct,  unless  it 
be  admitted  that  the  founder  of  the  family  in  Robeson 
was  a  fugative,  many  years  ago,  who  made  his  escape 
to  Scuffletown  in  North  Carolina,  and  took  up  his  abode 
in  this  settlement.  Be  this  as  it  may,  there  are  a  good 
many  of  the  name  now  in  Robeson  county,  and  among 
the  numbor  "William  Chavis  has  become  distinguished 
as  an  outlaw.  He  is  a  tall  bright,  fine  looking  man, 
about  thirty  years  of  age,  well  built  and  very  muscular. 
As  soon  as  he  was  outlawed  by  the  civil  authorities  in 
Robeson  county  he  made  his  escape  to  Effingham  coun- 
ty in  Georgia,  near  Savanah,  where  he  broke  into  a 
store,  and  made  his  way  across  the  Savanah  River  into 
the  State  of  South  Carolina.  When  in  Georgia  he  was 
employed  by  a  man  who  owned  a  sawmill  by  the  name 
of  Foy.  Since  he  came  over  into  South  Carolina  noth- 
ing has  been  heard  about  him. 

The  only  white  man  outlawed  by  the  civil  authori- 
ties of  the  county  was  Zach  T.  McLaughlin,  who  was 
hired  by  Henry  Berry  Lowrie,  for  fifty  dollars  to  in- 
flict the  mortal  wound  on  the  lamented  Owen  C.  Nor- 
ment.  This  man  Zach  T.  McLaughlin  was  probably 
the  meanest  specimen  of  the  Scotch  that  could  be  found 
in  the  county.  He  justly  merited  the  fate  he  met  up 
with,  at  the  hands  of  Henry  Biggs, 

One  other  white  man,  viz:  Bryan  Gilbert,  not  a  na- 
tive of  the  county,  had  dealings  with  the  outlaw  gang. 
On  the  day  the  outlaws  made  what  is  known  in    Robe- 


20  THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY. 

son  county  as  the  "Brandy  Raid"  on  Angus  Leach, 
this  George  Gilbert,  was  along  and  acccmpanicd  the 
outlaws  to  Mrs.  "William  McKay's  residence,  near  Floral 
College,  and  being  disguised,  that  is,  blackened,  was 
not  recognized  by  Miss  Pat  McKay,  nor  by  Mrs.  Wil- 
liam McKay.  Here  he  played  several  pieces  on  the 
piano  forte  in  Mrs.  McKay's  parlor.  Subsequently  he 
went  with  the  outlaws  to  Mr.  David  Townsend's  resi- 
dence, on  Aaron  Swamp,  near  Asbury  Church.  Hav- 
ing gone  into  Mr.  Townsend's  yard  and  being  discover- 
ed. Mr.  Townsend  opened  fire  on  them  with  a  double- 
barreled  shot  gun.  There  Bryan  Gilbert  was  wounded 
and  carried  off  by  the  outlaws  to  their  secret  camp  in 
the  Back  Swamp,  where  he  lingered  a  short  time  and 
died.  Thus  fell  another  one  of  the  associates  of  the 
outlaws:  and  now  as  we  have  given  an  imperfect  out- 
line of  these  land  pirates,  or  human  moccasins,  we  will 
proceed  to  delineate  their  mode  of  warfare. 


MODE    OF    WARFARE,   EQUIPMENTS,    &c. 


A  stranger,  to  see  these  outlaws  armed  as  they  ap- 
peared sometimes  at  Moss  Neck,  Eureka  and  Red 
Banks,  would  be  surprised  at  the  load  they  carried. 
They  generally  moved  about  armed  with  a  Spencer 
rifle,  two  double-barreled  shot  guns,  one  of  the  latter 
and  the  rifle  being  slung  from  their  shoulders  by  a 
leather  strap,  and  three  or  four  six  barreled  revolvers 
in  their  belts,  with  cartridge  boxes  in  a  heavy  canvass 
haversack,  the  whole  armor  weighing  not  less  than 
ninety  or  one  hundred  pounds.      Where  these  outlaws 


THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY.  21 

procured  their  improved  fire-arms  (breech-loading  guns) 
remains  to  this  day  a  mystery,  but  they  had  them  and 
knew  how  to  use  them. 

In  regard  to  their  mode  of  warfare,  it  may  be  stated 
that  they  seldom  went  about  at  night,  except  when  they 
wished  to  commit  robberies;  they  would  then  take  ad- 
vantage of  the  darkness  to  put  their  adversary  to  a  dis- 
advantage, slip  up  and  arrest  a  whole  family  before 
they  would  be  discovered,  and  then  plunder  at  their 
leisure.  They  generally  slept  at  night  in  the  cabins  of 
their  relatives  and  well-wishers  and  befrienders.  Sel- 
dom were  they  exposed  to  inclemencies  of  the  weather 
or  night  air;  every  negro  and  every  Indian  in  Robeson 
county  would  befriend  them  and  share  with  them  their 
last  morsel  of  bread  and  meat. 

When  they  wished  to  put  one  of  their  enemies  — one 
who  was  hunting  them — out  of  the  way,  they  would  go 
and  make  a  blind  or  two  on  the  road  or  path  he  was  ex- 
pected to  travel,  and  get  in  this  blind,  and  remain  there 
until  their  victim  would  come  along,  then  fire  on  him 
without  even  halting  him,  killing  him  without  a  mo- 
ment's warning.  They  were  such  adepts  in  construct- 
ing blinds  that  the  traveler  along  the  road,  unless  his  at- 
tention had  been  called  to  these  blinds  by  one  who 
xinderstood  them,  would  pass  them  by  unnoticed. 

It  was  by  ambuscading  that  they  succeeded  in  killing 
J.  Brantley  Harris,  James  P.  Barnes,  Owen  C.  Nor- 
ment,  Murdoch  A.  McLean  and  his  brother  Hugh,  John 
Taylor,  Archibald  A.  McMillan,  Hector  McNeill, 
Alexander  Brown,  Col.  F.  M.  Wishart  and  Giles  Inn- 
man.    All  these  most  excellent  citizens  of  Robeson  county 


22  THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY. 

met  their  sad  fate  at  the  hands  of  these  modern  Robeson 
county  Apaches— these  North  Carolina  Modocs;  not  in 
a  civilized  warfare— not  in  accordance  with  modern 
military  tactics,  but  by  the  bullet  of  the  high-way  robber 
and  midnight  assassin.  Even  ex-Sheriff  King,  although 
In  his  own  house,  sitting  by  his  own  fireside,  reading 
the  news  of  the  day;  came  unfortunately  to  the  end  of 
his  earthly  career  through  the  stealthiness  of  these  sub- 
tle villians,  who  blackened  their  faces  and  hands  to 
disguise  their  identity  and  race,  and  then  crept  up  slyly 
and  pushed  the  door  open  as  easily  as  possible  and  de- 
manded him  to  surrender. 

Daniel  Baker,  too,  as  peaceable  and  harmless  a  man 
as  could  be  found  in  the  county,  was  shot  in  his  own 
yard,  after  nightfall,  by  these  inhuman  bandits. 

It  is  a  misnomer  to  call  the  Lowrie  war  in  Robeson 
county  by  any  other  name  than  the  war  of  the  Bush- 
men, or  the  Bushman  War.  It  was  waged  on  the  part 
of  Henry  Berry  Lowrie  and  brothers  in  a  spirit  of  re- 
venge. They  wished  to  retaliate  on  the  white  race  be- 
cause the  Home  Guard  of  the  county  found  Allen  Low- 
rie, their  father;  and  William  Lowrie,  their  brother,  re- 
ceivers of  stolen  goods  from  various  parts  of  the  sur- 
rounding country  in  the  month  of  February,  1864,  and 
having  courtmartialed  them  and  found  them  guilty, 
sentenced  them  to  be  shot.  There  is  but  one  opinion 
in  regard  to  this  whole  matter  among  the  lawabiding 
citizens  of  Robeson  county,  and  that  is  that  Allen  Low- 
rie, the  old  man,  as  he  is  termed,  should  have  acted  a 
better  part  to  his  white  neighbors,  who  had  often  be- 
friended him,  than  to  have  received  into  his  house  stolen 
goods,  taken  from  his  neighbors,  and  then  found  to  en- 
deavor to   screen  himself   and    his    son   William   from 


THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY.  23 

punishment.  The  verdict  of  the  public  is  that  he  was 
"particeps  criminis, "  equally  guilty  with  his  son  Wil- 
liam, and  that  the  Home  Guard  did  right  in  passing 
sentence  of  death  on  them  both  and  in  carrying  that 
sentence  into  execution.  And  right  here  is  a  moral 
lesson:  "The  way  of  the  transgressor  is  hard;"  "Ven- 
geance is  mine  and  I  will  repay,  saith  the  Lord,"  "The 
wicked  live  out  half  their  days."  Behold  -see!  Henry 
Berry  Lowrie  and  his  associates  in  crime  have  gone  to 
the  criminals  bourne,  "to  answer  for  the  deeds  done  in 
the  flesh,"  and  may  their  like  never  again  appear  on 
this  world's  arena,  for  they  were  the  veriest  cowards— 
the  most  arrant  poltroons,  that  ever  disgraced  the  an- 
nals of  warfare. 


A      GEOGRAPHICAL       AND       TOPOGRAPHICAL 
DESCRIPTITION  OF  SCUFFLETOWN.* 


Scuffletown  proper  is  located  a  little  to  the  north- 
west of  the  centre  of  Robeson  county,  the  centre  being 
near  Pates  about  15  miles  north-west  of  Lumberton,  on 
the  Carolina  Central  Railway.  Eight  miles  north-west- 
ward of  Lumberton,  on  the  Carolina  Central  Railway, 
is  the  station  of  Moss  Neck.  Seven  miles  from  Moss 
Neck,  on  the  Carolina  Central  Railway,  is  the  station  of 
Red  Banks,  between  Moss  Neck  and  Red  Banks  are 
Eureka  and  Blue's  store,  so  that  properly  speaking 
the  Carolina  Central  Railway  cuts  into  parts  the 
territory  of  Scuffletown,  which  extends  on  both  sides 
of   the  railway  tracks  some  three    or  four  miles,    inter- 


*Scuffletown,  in  the  common  parlance  of  the  country,  means  a  large  Indian  set- 
tlement, without  streets  or  public  buildings,  having  no  municipal  laws  or  regula- 
tions. 


24  THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY. 

spersed  with  branches,  swamps,  and  bays.  It  is  a 
part  of  the  great  swamp  district  of  North  Carolina  be- 
low the  sand  hills.  Standing  at  Lumberton,  the  coun- 
ty site,  and  looking  north-westward  you  see  the  Ten 
Mile  Swamp,  with  Dockery'smill  on  it  (formerly  Rhode's 
mill),  then  the  Big  Raft  Swamp,  Richland  Swamp,  Burnt 
Sawmp,  Bear  Swamp,  all  north  of  the  railway  track,  tra- 
versing the  country  and  running  into  Lumber  River 
south  of  the  Carolina  Central  Railway.  North  of  the 
railway  track  "the  Lowrie  Band"  never  committed  a 
murder.  South  of  the  railway  track  runs  Lumber  River; 
and  paralel  with  Lumber  River  runs  Back  Swamp  for 
twenty  miles,  the  river  and  swamp  being  at  some  places 
two  miles  apart,  at  others  three  miles.  On  Back 
Swamp,  about  ten  miles  from  Inman's  bridge  across 
Lumber  River  is  the  place  where  the  Lowrie  Robbers 
kept  their  secret  camp.  Around  Moss  Neck  station  are 
the  scenes  of  their  boldest  murders  and  assassinotions. 
This  part  of  Robeson  county  was  doubtless  first  set- 
tled by  the  ancestors  of  the  present  Indians,  on  account 
poverty  of  the  soil  and  the  half  inundated  condition  of 
that  region,  it  being  within  the  reach  of  their  means,  or 
in  other  words,  lands  there  being  cheap.  In  wet  weather, 
when  much  rain  has  fallen,  and  the  Lumber  River  and 
its  tributaries  rise,  this  region  is  almost  flooded,  and  re- 
mains so  for  some  considerable  time.  In  summer  a 
luxuriant  undergrown  covers  all  the  swamps  and  low 
places,  and  even  the  pine  land;  while  in  winter  the 
streams  are  full  of  water  and  the  swamps  more  ex- 
tensive. The  growth  is  sweet  gum,  black  gum,  maple, 
ash,  popular,  cypress,  post  oak,  white  oak,  hickory  and 
the  gallberry  bush  in  abundance.  In  the  margins  of  the 
swamps  the  yellow  jessamine,   poison  oak  and  bamboo 


THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY.  25 

vines  grow  luxuriantly  and  stretch  out  eccentrically, 
making  almost  an  impenetrable  abatis;  in  short,  Scuffle- 
town  is  a  tract  of  country  interspersed  and  traversed 
by  swamps,  covered  at  wide  intervals  with  hills, 
with  here  and  there  a  log  cabin  out  of  half  dozen  of 
rude  and  simple  construction;  sometimes,  however,  a 
half  dozen  of  these  huts  are  in  sight  of  each  other. 

They  are  great  lovers  of  tobacco,  and  are  always 
begging  a  chew  of  tobacco  from  those  they  meet  up  with. 
An  anecdote  is  handed  down  in  regard  to  Duncan  Mc- 
Alpin,  a  former  Sheriff  of  Robeson.  He  lived  on  the 
borders  of  Scumetown,  near  Philadelphus  Presbyterian 
Church,  at  the  mills  on  Richland  Swamp  now  owned 
by  W.  J.  Brown.  It  is  related  of  Duncan  McAlpin  that 
whenever  he  would  meet  an  Indian  on  the  road,  know- 
ing the  habit  of  begging  tobacco,  that  he  would  say: 
"How  do  you — how  do  you?  Can't  you  give  me  a  chew 
of  tobacco?     Goodbye — good  bye." 

If  a  traveler  wishes  to  visit  a  Scuffletown  shanty  he 
will  be  compelled  to  leave  the  public  road  and  take  a 
foot-path  leading  through  the  woods,  across  branches 
and  swamps,  until  he  reaches  a  worn  fence  made  of 
pine  rails,  inclosing  a  half  cleared  patch  of  land  con- 
taining three  or  four  acres,  in  the  centre  of  which  gen- 
erally stands  the  Indian  cabin,  constructed  of  pine  poles 
about  five  or  six  inches  in  diameter,  notched  one  above 
the  other  until  it  reaches  the  height  of  eight  feet  and 
then  covered  with  pine  boards;  the  chimney  built  against 
one  end  of  the  house  on  the  outside  of  poles  and  clay  as 
far  up  as  the  body  of  the  house  goes,  and  the  balance 
of  the  chimney  with  sticks  and  clay,  where  it  narrows 
to  the  funnel  or  smoke  hole;  a  door  is  cut  on  the  front 
side  and  the  chinks  stopped  with  clay;  no  windows  gen- 


26  THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY. 

erally;  sometimes  a  cut  hole  is  left  on  the  door  with 
numerous  peep  holes  in  the  body  of  the  cabin.  A  little 
distanse  from  the  cabin  will  be  found  in  the  yard  a 
well  of  water,  or  rather  a  hole  dug  in  the  ground,  sur- 
rounded with  a  cypress  gum  or  curb  to  keep  the  chil- 
dren from  falling  in  and  getting  drowned.  In  the  cor- 
ner of  the  chimney  on  the  outside  will  be  found  a  half 
barrel  sawed  off  and  set  up  on  boards  one  foot  above 
the  ground  for  running  off  lye,  from  wood  ashes,  for 
the  purpose  of  making  soap,  the  other  half  of  the  barrel 
being  used  as  a  washtub.  A  poor,  half-starved  fice 
dog,  used  for  hunting  "possums"  and  "wild  varmints," 
will  generally  be  found  inside  of  the  inclosure.  The 
two  or  three  acres  cleared  are  ploughed  and  planted  in 
corn,  potatoes  and  rice,  which  come  up  puny,  grow 
puny  and  mature  puny.  The  woman  of  the  house  com- 
monly has  a  baby  at  the  breast,  and  from  a  half  dozen 
to  a  dozen  children  playing  outside  of  the  enclosure  in 
the  woods.  The  bed  is  made  on  the  floor  (generally  a 
clay  floor);  two  or  three  stools  to  sit  on;  no  division  in 
the  cabin,  one  apartment  comprising  the  whole  es- 
tablishment. 

The  above  picture  is  true  of  the  great  majority  of  the 
Indians,  but  there  are  a  few  honorable  exceptions. 
The  Oxendines  lived  in  better  style  and  in  much  more 
comfortable  dwellings;  in  fact,  were  well-to-do  citizens, 
whilst  the  old  set  of  the  Lowrie  family  lived  in  good, 
comfortable  framed  houses,  several  of  them  being  good 
mechanics,  or  house  carpenters. 


ETHICAL  SCIENCE  IN  SCUFFLETOWN. 
The  habits  of  the  Indian  are  peculiar  and  eccentric, 


THE  LOWR1E  HISTORY.  27 

sometimes  assuming  a  religious  aspect  as  austere  as  the 
most  rigid  Pharisee  could  desire,  at  other  times  plung- 
ing headlong  into  immoral  excesses  degrading  to  human 
nature.  Piltering  chickens;  steading  pigs  and  killing 
sheep  for  mutton  were  of  frequent  occurance  among 
the  denizens  of  Scumetown  from  time  immemorial.  A 
love  for  spirituous  liquors  characterized  the  who  pop- 
ulation with  some  few  exceptions.  The  entire  race  are 
intemperate  whenever  they  have  the  means  of  gratify- 
ing their  taste  for  spirituous  liquors,  and  when  under 
the  influence  of  liquor  they  are  remarkably  quarrel- 
some and  fussy,  often  fighting  and  cutting  and  stabbing 
each  other  with  knives,  or  shooting  each  other  with 
guns  or  pistols.  But  notwithstanding  these  immoral 
evils,  nearly  all  Indians,  when  they  arrive  at  years  of 
discretion,  join  either  the  Baptist  or  Methodist  church 
in  Scuffletown,  which  they  claim  as  their  church  or 
churches,  being  supplied  with  ministers  of  the  race,  ed- 
ucated, licensed  and  ordained  in  their  peculiar  style. 

Ever  since  the  Methodist  denomination  had  a  circuit 
in  the  county  the  ministers  of  that  denomination  preach- 
ed regularly  to  them,  and  seemed  to  outsiders  to  take  an 
unusual  interest  in  their  spiritual  welfare,  sometimes  ad- 
mitting to  membership,  on  the  profession  of  their  faith, 
in  the  course  of  the  year  as  many  as  fifty  or  sixty.  Pres- 
byterian ministers  also  labored  assiduously  among  them 
for  a  number  of  years.  The  Baptist  denomination  also 
sent  their  ministers  in  among  them  to  impart  spiritual 
instruction  to  their  benighted  minds. 

Since  the  late  war  between  the  States,  they  have  shut 
the  doors  of  their  churches  against  all  ministers  of  the 
white  race  and  installed  in  their  places  in  the  pulpit  per- 
sons of  their  own  race. 


28  THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY. 

THE  ORIGIN  OF  SCUFFLETOWN. 

When  the  Scotch  first  commenced  settling  in  Robeson 
county  in  1747,  after  the  disasterous  battle  of  Culloden, 
(Robeson  being  then  a  part  of  Bladen  County)  the  an- 
cestors of  the  Locklears,  Revels,  Cumbos  and  Chavis'  of 
today  were  living  where  their  decendants  now  live.  Af- 
ter the  Revolutionary  War,  the  Lowries  moved  down 
into  scuffletown  and  built  on  the  place  now  known  as 
the  'Harper  Ferry  place,"  and  kept  a  ferry  there  across 
Lumber  River.  In  process  of  time  the  Ransoms  came 
from  Halifax  county  and  took  up  their  abode  in  this  set- 
tlement. The  Woods'  came  from  Sampson  ;  the  Oxen- 
dines  from  Franklin,  also  the  Cummings',  the  Goins  and 
the  Braboys.  The  Jacobs,  Hunts,  Morgans,  Scotts  and 
Dials,  made  their  way  to  Robeson  and  lived.  James 
Murphy  lived  on  the  farm  now  owned  by  the  heirs  of 
the  late  Daniel  H.  McLean,  near  Maxton  on  the  Caroli- 
na Central  Railway.  He  amassed  considerable  proper- 
ty and  was  the  owner  of  slaves.  He  married  a  Cumbo 
— a  half-breed  Tuscarora  Indian  woman,  with  a  good 
countenance.  He  left  Robeson  county  about  1792, 
with  one  of  the  Hunts,  and  settled  on  the  Great  Pee  Dee 
in  South  Carolina,  near  Hunt's  Bluff. 

The  Bell  family  lived  on  Saddle  Tree  Swamp,  some 
t mi  or  twelve  miles  from  Lumberton  on  the  old  stage 
roadfiom  Lumberton  toFayetteville.  One  of  the  family, 
namely:  Hardy  Bell,  moved  to  Lumberton  about  1840, 
and  commenced  merchandising.  He  succeded  in  this 
line  of  business  very  well  until  he  died.  For  several 
years  he  was  the  most  prominent  merchant  in  Lumber- 
ton,  Lumberton  being  called  in  Robeson  "Hardy  Bell's 
town,"  as  a  burlesque. 


THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY.  29 

They  married  and  intermarried  with  each  other  so 
often  that  the  distinctive  features  of  one  was  represen- 
tative of  all.  Straight  black  hair,  high  cheek  bones, 
straight  backs  and  great  muscular  power  characterized 
the  whole  race.  Traces  of  the  Indian  and  Anglo-Saxon 
race  can  be  discovered  in  the  contour  of  their  faces  and 
observed  in  their  demeanor  and  deportment.  As  a  race 
they  are  remarkably  superstitious.  They  believe  in 
fairies,  elfs,  spirits,  ghosts  and  goblins,  and  in  conjura- 
tion. They  are  as  a  race  very  prolific.  It  is  no  un- 
common occurrence  to  find  women  among  them  who 
have  born  a  dozen  of  children,  and  some  few  as  many 
as  fifteen  or  sixteen..  They  generally,  as  a  race,  not- 
withstanding their  love  for  whiskey,  die  of  old  age  ;  sel- 
dom sick — seldom  in  bad  health.  By  the  censusof  1860 
Robeson  county  contained  the  extraordinary  number  of 
1,459.  Before  the  late  war  Scufnetown  demoralized  the 
entire  slave  population  and  not  a  few  of  the  ''white 
trash,"  whilst  the  interminable  diabolism  of  the  Scuff le- 
tonians  forever  kept  the  State  Docket  in  the  county 
crowded  with  cases,  so  much  so  that  in  each  and  every 
year  an  extra  term  of  court  had  to  be  held  to  finish  the 
cases  on  the  docket,  and  the  worst  feature  in  the  whole 
business  was  that  the  county  had  to  "foot  the  bills,"  or 
pay  the  costs  in  almost  every  trial,  even  to  paying  jail 
fees;  consequently  taxes  have  ever  been  high  in  Robe- 
son when  compared  with  other  counties  in  the  State,  so 
that  in  the  language  of  the  immortal  Cicero,  we  might 
exclaim,  somewhat  paraphrased :  Quandier,  oh!  Scuffle- 
town,  abutere  nostru  patientia?"  "(How  long,  oh! 
Scuffletown,  will  you  abuse  our  patience?.") 


30  THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY. 

CONDITION  OF  AFFAIRS  IN  ROBESON. 

This  chapter  will  give  the  true  condition  of  affairs  in 
Robeson  county,  commencing  in  the  latter  part  of  the 
year  1864,  and  continuing  until  the  latter  part  of  1870. 
At  the  time  the  Lowrie  robbers  commenced  their  oper- 
ations in  the  year  1864,  all  our  able  men  were  at  the 
front,  fighting  for  rights  and  homes,  while  their  unpro- 
tected families  were  exposed  to  a  band  of  merciless 
marauders,  who,  when  requisition  was  made  by  the 
Confederate  authorities  for  their  labor  on  our  fortifica- 
tions, betook  themselves  to  the  forests  and  swamps. 

That  portion  of  the  county  in  which  this  gang  organ- 
ized and  commenced  operations  was  confined  to  Scuffle- 
town,  as  has  been  made  to  appear  by  false  representa- 
tions as  to  the  locality.  The  Lowries  lived  in  Scuffle- 
town.  Old  Allen  Lowrie,  held  in  contempt  the  com- 
mon Scuffletonians,  purchased  a  tract  of  land  from  a 
white  man,  who  was  a  small  farmer,  in  a  neighborhood 
which  comprised  families  equal  in  point  of  education,  re- 
finement and  wealth  to  any  community  in  the  county 
of  Robeson  or  elsewhere  throughout  the  State.  The  im- 
mediate vicinity  in  which  commenced  the  horrible 
scenes  of  plunder,  so  soon  to  be  followed  by  bloodshed, 
was  not  thickly  settled,  the  plantations  being  large; con- 
sequently families  in  some  instances  lived  a  little  remote 
from  each  other.  This  neighborhood  is  situated  on  the 
west  side  of  Lumber  River,  about  twelve  miles  north- 
west of  Lumberton,  and  fifteen  south  from  Floral  Col- 
lege. 

At  the  time  of  their  organization  in  the  year  1864 
there  were  no  men  at  home,  "except  a  few  who  were  ex- 
empt from  service  by  age  and  other  causes ;  in  some 


THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY.  31 

families  there  was  no  gentleman  left.  The  citizens  of 
upper  Robeson,  becoming  aware  of  our  utter  helpless- 
ness to  defend  ourselves,  formed  into  a  Home  Guard 
and  very  kindly  came  down  to  endeaver  to  learn  who 
comprised  the  gang,  their  strength,  and  also  to  become 
conversant  with  their  mode  and  line  of  operation. 
They  quartered  themselves  at  McLaughlin's  Bridge, 
on  Lumber  River,  for  about  two  weeks.  Within  that 
time  they  were  convinced  that  their  force  was  entirely 
too  weak  to  effect  much  with  the  gang,  and  it  was 
positively  learned  that  it  numbered  as  high  as  forty  or 
fifty.  An  appeal  for  aid  was  sent  to  Richmond  county 
The  Home  Guard  of  that  county,  though  few  in  number, 
hesitated  not  to  join  the  gallant  few  who  were  chaffing 
to  be  in  action.  They  soon  succeeded  in  capturing 
and  killing  their  leader,  William  Lowrie,  and  his  father, 
Allen  Lowrie,  as  his  house  was  their  headquarters,  and 
therein  was  found  some  of  the  stolen  property.  This 
did  little  towards  ending  the  troubles  in  Robeson;  it 
ceased  only  for  a  short  time,  to  break  out  with  renewed 
zeal  and  ardor.  Younger  sons,  with  those  allied  by 
blood,  re-organized,  and  with  the  Indian  stealthiness 
and  spirit  of  revenge,  go  forth  plundering  and  spread- 
ing terror  throughout  the  community  by  their  un- 
limited acts  of  lawlessness  and  terrible  threats  of 
vengeance.  In  the  meantime  peace  being  declared,  our 
men  returned,  worn  down  and  disheartened,  not  only 
by  the  turn  affairs  had  taken,  but  also  the  condition  in 
which  they  found  their  families.  For  months  the  robber 
gang  go  on  undisturbed — and  why?  Simply  this:  those 
who  were  willing  and  ready  to  make  an  attemp  to  ar- 
rest them,  could  get  no  aid  from  others  in  their  vicinity. 
When  they  would  go  and  request  them  to  "come  with 


23  THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY. 

its  and  we  will  stop  it,"  almost  the  invarible  reply  was, 
"No,  if  they  will  let  us  alone,  we  will  let  them  alone," 
refusing  even  to  lend  their  guns  to  those  without  arms. 
Some  gave  as  a  reason  that  they  lived  too  near  the  line 
of  their  operations;  their  hands  were  tied,  for  if  the 
robbers  found  it  out  they  would  be  revenged  on  their 
persons  or  property.  A  refusal  in  such  cases  seemed 
to  say:  They  may  kill  my  friend,  or  devastate  my 
neighbor's  property,  but  if  they  will  let  me  and  my  in- 
terests alone,  why  then  I  will  be  content  for  them  to  re- 
main forever  at  large." 

Prompted  by  selfish  motives  to  refuse  to  aid  and  abet 
the  noble  men  who  would  have  risked  life  and  all  to 
secure  peace  and  quiet  for  those  in  more  immediate  vi- 
cinity of  the  gang,  they  thereby  secured  to  themselves, 
by  permitting  those  living  fiends  to  go  unmolested,  a 
punishment  equal  in  some  degree  to  those  who  did  all 
in  their  power  to  arrest  them.  Nearly  every  family  for 
miles,  who  was  possessed  of  any  property,  were  annoyed 
by  their  visits  and  depredations. 

The  first  election  held  there  after  the  surrender,  as  in 
almost  every  other  county  in  the  State,  placed  radicals 
in  office;  and  in  our  county  some  of  her  petty  officers 
assumed  more  power  in  the  control  of  local  affairs  than 
the  Constitution  of  the  State  allowed;  yet  they  were 
quietly  permitted  to  use  that  authority.  Such  was  our 
condition  when  the  citizens  of  Robeson  rose  up  to 
throw  off  the  yoke  that  was  galling  them  sorely.  They 
started  out,  determined  not  only  to  demolish  the  robber 
gang,  but  all  against  whom  they  had  unquestionable  ev- 
idence as  being  friends  and  informants  for  the  gang. 
They  killed  one  or  two  of  their  allies  ;  the  supposed  per- 


THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY.  33 

petrators  were  pointed  out  by  friends  of  the  robber 
gang,  and  evidence  taken  sufficiently  to  outlaw,  by  a 
Radical  Judge,  a  company  of  nine  as  noble  young  men, 
from  good  families,  as  our  country  can  boast,  and  forced 
them  to  flee  beyond  the  limits  of  their  native  State  to  seek 
that  protection  they  could  not  claim  within  her  borders. 
To  further  intimidate  the  citizens  of  Robeson  the  hue  and 
cry  of  "Ku  Klux,  Ku  Klux, "  is  raised,  and  loud  threats 
by  her  officials  of  Kirk  and  his  men  are  heard.  Some  of 
our  best  men  were  arrested  and  kept  before  a  "Justice" 
Court  for  days.  All  the  young  men  who  were  engaged 
in  hunting  the  robbers  stood  in  daily  expectation  of 
undergoing  the  same  ordeal.  Surrounded  on  the  one 
hand  by  the  robber  gang  and  their  friends,  through  the 
th'ck  pine  woods,  and,  to  a  white  man,  the  almost 
impenetrable  swamps;  on  the  other,  Radical  officials 
dispensing  their  so-called  justice  to  the  noble  fellows 
who  would  have  captured  them,  and  you  have  the 
situation.  Instances  could  be  given  where  young  men 
received  orders  from  the  High  Sheriff  to  search  the 
houses  of  some  of  the  suspected  parties,  and  on  obey- 
ing their  orders  were  notified  to  appear  before  the 
"Justice  of  the  Peace"  in  Lumberton,  to  answer  char- 
ges preferred  against  them  for  ill  treatment  to  inmates 
of  said  houses.  On  appearing  for  trial,  the  parties  al- 
leged to  have  been  ill  treated,  swore  in  open  court  to 
the  falsity  of  the  charge.  They  were  therefore  neces- 
sitated to  release  the  men  without  having  a  chance  to 
vent  their  individual  spite  on  the  heads  of  their  inno- 
cent prisoners.  Thus  the  citizens  of  Robeson  were  in- 
timidated. Their  situation  not  being  realized  beyond 
their  county  limits,  they  were  branded  in  many  places 
throughout    the  county    as   cowards;     but    could    their 


34  THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY. 

nightly  vigils  and  midnight  tramps,  with  knapsack  and 
gun,  all  be  chronicled;  their  days  of  exposure  to  cold, 
and  often  to  hunger,  in  the  dense  woods  watching  for 
the  enemy,  be  recorded,  "Cowards  of  Robeson"  would 
be  changed  to  her  gallant  heroes. 


STATEMENT  OF  REV.  C.  M.  PEPPER. 

This  chapter  comprises  the  statement  of  Rev.  C.  M. 
Pepper,  of  the  North  Carolina  Conference,  giving  a  cor- 
rect account  of  the  state  of  affairs  during  his  sojourn  in 
Robeson  county.  He  says:  I  resided  in  the  neighbor- 
hood in  which  the  Lowries  lived  in  the  year  1865.  I 
was  well  acquainted  with  Allen  Lowrie,  the  father  of 
Henry  Berry,  and  have,  I  suppose,  often  seen  the  latter, 
as  I  knew  several  of  the  old  man's  sons,  though  not 
well  enough  to  distinguish  all  of  them  by  name. 

Allen  Lowrie  was  a  sort  of  chief  in  the  community 
in  which  he  lived.  He  attended  church  every  Sabbath. 
He  was  perhaps  the  wealthiest,  and  most  intelligent  and 
respectable  of  all  the  free  people  in  that  community. 
He  was  a  tall,  fine  looking  Indian,  with  straight  hair,  and 
a  physiognomy  that  indicated  Indian  blood  greatly 
predominant  in  his  extraction.  He  lived  in  a  com- 
fortable frame  building,  had  a  farm,  and  made  a  good 
living.  He  was  respected  by  the  whites  of  the  commu- 
nity and  looked  up  to  by  the  colored. 

I  do  not  know  so  much  about  his  sons,  but  if  I  re- 
member correctly  they  were  all  of  them  like  their 
father  in  complexion,  and  hair  indicating  a  large  mixture 
of  Indian  blood. 

I    found   when    I    reached    the  neighborhood  of  that 


THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY.  35 

settlement  that  this  race  had  been  in  some  excitement, 
the  cause  of  which  was  an  attempt  on  the  part  of  the 
authorities  to  put  them  in  the  army.  Some  of  them 
were  skulking  in  the  bushes  and  swamps,  and  among 
these  were  some  of  the  sons  of  Lowrie.  I  was  startled 
at  the  account  they  gave  me  of  the  murder  of  a  good 
man,  an  excellent  citizen  (J.  P.  Barnes)  of  that  com- 
munity, whom  I  had  known  for  years.  This  was  about 
the  first  of  the  long  list  of  outrages  which  have  been 
psrpetrated  in  that  community  since  that  time;  this  was 
the  beginning,  I  may  say,  of  a  reign  of  terror- 
Soon  after  the  murder  of  James  Barnes  the  people 
were  almost  petrified  with  fear  at  the  intelligence  of 
the  fact  that  there  was  an  organized  band  of  marau- 
ders, of  how  great  a  number  no  one  knew.  "We  had 
been  informed,  or  did  afterwards  learn,  that  this  band 
was  composed  of  Yankee  prisoners,  escaped  from  the 
Florence  prison  in  South  Carolina,  of  Indians,  and,  as 
we  supposed,  of  some  few  mean  white  men  and  slaves. 
The  community  was  terror-stricken  as  they  heard  of 
new  depredations  and  outrages  committed  each  night; 
almost  every  day  we  heard  that  the  robbers  had  entered 
a  house  the  night  before,  ransacked  and  taken  what- 
ever they  wanted,  caroused,  insulted  or  attacked  some 
of  the  family,  and  producing  terror  and  consternation. 
In  every  instance  they  took  all  the  ammunition  and 
liquor  they  could  find,  and  generally  seized  or  broke 
the  fire-arms.  There  was  a  panic  in  the  community; 
so  great  was  the  fear  that  persons  were  afraid  to  step 
out  into  the  yard  after  dark — everything  was  done  be- 
fore night.  The  doors  were  bolted  securely;  the  in- 
mates would  gather  around  the  fire  and  sit  with  hearts 
palpitating  at  every  sound  they  heard,  momentarily  ex- 


36  THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY. 

pecting  the  appearance  of    the  dreaded  band    of  des- 
peradoes.     No  one  knew  how  many   were  in  the  gang, 

or  who  belonged  to  it,  except  a  few  who  had  been  rec- 
ognized.     They   went  in  the  dark,   and  on  entering  a 

house    extinguished  the    lights,    or    only   those  entered 

who  were  strangers  to  the  household.      The  gang  had 

been  estimated  as  high  as  fifty  m  number,  and  we  were 

satisfied  that  the  Lowries  had  in  it  a  prominent  place. 

The  evidence   was  satisfactory  that  one   of  them  killed 

Mr.    Barnes,    and    some    of    them    had    been  identified 

amongst  the  clan. 

I  was  boarding  at  that  time  at  Mrs.  Nash's,    widow  of 

Dr.    Nash,    who   was  a  son  of  Judge  Nash.      Her  house 

was  right  on  the  border  of  Lumber  River.      It  was  on 

an  island  in  that  river,  as  we  afterwards  learned,  and  in 

a   quarter  of  a   mile  of   Mrs.    Nash's,   that  the  robbers 

rendezvoused  during  the  day,    and  from  this  den  sallied 

forth    at    night.      They    visited    Mrs.    Nash's   house    on 

several  occasions,    but  did  her  no  damage  in  any  way. 

"We  had  prepared  for  them,    or  at  least  made  out  our 

plan  of  receiving  them.      I  advised  Mrs.   Nash   if  they 

should  come  to   treat  them   with  as  much  kindness  as 

possible.      They  came  the  first  time  when  I  was  from 

home,  and  although  there  was  not  a  white  man  on  the 

premises,  and  the  three  ladies   were  almost  paralyzed 

with  fear,  Mrs.  Nash  went  out  and  spoke  to  them  in  the 

yard.      The     first   intimation    the    ladies    had    of  their 

presence    was    from    the     servant     girl,    who   came   in 

hurriedly  and  told  them  that  the  robbers  were  there, 

and  had  sent  her  to  tell,  the  ladies  to  send  out  all  the 

keys  at  once.      Mrs.  McCormick,   a  sister  of  Mrs.   Nash, 

handed  the  key  basket  to  the  girl,   and  told  her  to  tell 

them,  if  they  pleased,  notto  enter  the  house,  that  they 


THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY.  37 

were  alone.      Mrs.    Nash   was  more  calm;  she  stopped 
the  girl  and  bade  her  light  a  candle,  that  she  would  go 
with  her.      The  other  ladies  objected  strongly   to  this; 
but  she  thought  best  to  put  on  as  bold  a  front  as  possible, 
which  she  did,  and  stepped  out  to  speak  with  them.   She 
addressed  them  in  a  pleasant  tone,    and  told  them  that 
they    were    three     unprotected    ladies,    requested    and 
begged  them  not  to  harm  their  persons,  that  they  could 
have  anything  they  wanted.      The  man  who  seemed  to 
be  leader,  and  who   was  an  escaped  Yankee  prisoner, 
was  completely  disarmed  and  tamed  by  the  eloquence 
of  her  tongue    and  blandness   of    her  manners.      In  the 
case  of  their  leader,  "the  lion  seemed  changed  into  the 
lamb,"   and  he  said.    "Madam,    we  are  obliged  to  have 
something  to  eat."      "Certainly,"  said  Mrs.  Nash,  "walk 
into  the  house  and  be  seated,   and  I  will  have  supper 
prepared."      Two  strange  white  men  came  in,  filthy  and 
ragged,  well  armed  with  double-barreled  shot  guns,  &c. 
They  sat  down,   and  while  suppsr  was  being    pre- 
pared  Mrs.  Nash  entered  into  conversation  with  them, 
and  entertained  them  as  few  ladies  in  North  Carolina 
could  have  done  under  the  circumstances.      She    told 
them  of  the  gang  of  robbers  in  the  neighborhood,,  en- 
deavored,  and    no    doubt    succeeded,    in    making  the 
impression,  on  their  mind  that  she  did  not  even  suspect 
them  of    being    connected    with   the    gang,   and  begged 
their  protection  against  their   assault.      While   she   was 
talking  with  these  men,   quite    a  number    of  their  ac- 
complices were  stationed  as-  a  guard  outside,   and  stand- 
ing in  the  yard  awaiting  orders.      After    a   while  they 
seemed  to  get  impatient  for  booty,  and  began  to  complain, 
and    several    times    one   of    the    men    walked    out    and 
cursed  them.      After  supper  they  remained  until  a  late 


38  THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY. 

hour;  sang  some  for  the  ladies,  and  had  Mrs.  Nash  to 
perform  some  pieces  for  them  on  the  piano.  They 
finally  bade  the  ladies  good  night  and  went  off, 
taking  nothing  except  a  case  knife,  to  which  the  fingers 
of  one  of  the  company  stuck,  and  which  was  after- 
wards returned. 

In  a  few  nights  they  came  again,  dressed  in  broad- 
cloth and  boots,  shaved  and  washed,  making  really  a 
genteel  appearance.  I  was  again  from  home,  or  rather 
I  was  off  on  duty.  They  remained  as  before  until  a 
late  hour  of  the  night,  and  left,  doing  no  damage. 

The  third  time  they  came  I  was  at  home.  Hearing 
their  heavy  footfalls  on  the  long  piazza  of  the  old  man- 
sion, the  ladies  insisted  that  Mr.  D.  M.  McCormick 
(who  was  there  also)  and  I  should  retire  to  another 
room,  which  I  afterwards  concluded  Mr.  McCormick 
was  very  willing  to  do.  I  wished  to  see  them,  but 
yielded  to  the  entreaties  of  the  ladies,  and  we  walked 
out  of  the  room  just  in  time  to  avoid  their  knowledge 
of  our  presence.  This  time  they  were  evidently  very 
uneasy.  The  Home  Guard,  in  considerable  force,  was 
stationed  four  miles  up  the  river,  and  in  search  of  the 
robbers.  They  seemed  very  restless,  sat  with  their 
guns  across  their  knees,  and  were  not  so  pleasant  and 
communicative  as  before.  Presently  they  arose  hurried- 
ly, stepped  out  at  the  door,  and  were  gone  for  a  few 
minutes,  when  the  silence  was  broken  by  several  loud 
reports  from  shot  guns,  then  all  was  quiet  and  still  as 
death  for  half  an  hour.  They  then  walked  into  the 
house  again. 

In  our  room  we  had  two  double-barreled  shot  guns, 
one  six-shooter  and  one  rifle.      I  proposed  to  Mr.  Mc- 


THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY.  39 

Cormick  that  we  should  take  them,  but  he  seemed  rath- 
er nervous  for  the  undertaking,  and  I  then  made  the 
proposition  to  slip  out  at  the  window  and  go  to  where 
we  knew  the  Home  Guard  were  stationed.  This  seemed 
to  him  also  to  be  rather  perilous,  so  we  let  them  slide. 
This  time  they  did  not  stay  long,  and  when  they  left, 
left  not  to  return  again.  On  the  next  morning,  to  our 
surprise,  we  were  informed  by  the  negroes  that  they 
had  left  one  of  their  number  in  the  negro  cabin  sick, 
and  requested  Mrs.  Nash,  through  the  servants,  to  let 
him  stay  there  until  he  would  get  well.  Mrs.  Nash 
went  out  to  see  and  speak  with  him.  He  told  her  that 
he  had  been  with  the  robber  gang  only  for  concealment 
and  sustenance;  that  he  had  never  joined  with  them  in 
their  marauding  operations,  as  he  was  taken  sick  the 
first  night  he  reached  Allen  Lowrie's,  and  had  been 
sick  up  to  that  time.  He  also  told  her  that  he  was  one 
of  the  escaped  Yankee  prisoners  from  Florence,  and 
was  with  the  band  because  he  had  nowhere  else  to  go. 
He  gave  his  name  as  Owen  T.  Wright.  He  had  with 
him  a  Bible,  which  had  the  appearance  of  having  been 
much  used.  His  plausible  story  was  received  by  Mrs. 
Nash,  who  began  at  once  to  sympathize  with  him.  She 
had  the  negroes  to  wash  and  dress  him  in  clean  clothes, 
carry  him  into  her  dwelling  house  and  put  him  in  a 
comfortable  bed.  This  was  scarcely  done  before  the 
house  was  surrounded  by  a  company  of  armed  men, 
who  proved  to  be  the  Home  Guard.  I  walked  out  and 
spoke  to  one  of  them  in  the  yard.  He  asked  me  hur- 
riedly about  the  Yankee.  I  stated  to  him  the  facts  of 
the  case, 'and  others  coming  up  and  hearing  my  statement, 
rushed  to  the  room  where  the  invalid  Yankee  was,  and 
I  suppose   would,    but  for  the  interposition  of  the  kind 


40  THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY. 

lady,  have  put  an  end  to  his  life  without  taking  him  out 
of  sight  of  the  house.  Pocahontas-like,  Mrs.  Nash  plead 
for  his  life  and  stood  between  him  and  destruction  until 
the  excitement  had  subsided.  They  consented  to  take 
him  and  give  the  case  an  investigation.  Putting  him 
in  a  cart,  they  hurried  him  off  towards  their  head- 
quarters; from  there  he  was  sent  to  Lumberton  and  a 
comfortable  room  provided  for  him  by  Mrs.  S.  A.  Mc- 
Queen, where  he  remained  for  a  few  days.  Sherman's 
men  made  a  raid  into  Lumberton,  and  carried  him  off 
with  the  rest  of  their  booty. 

The  evening  previous  to  their  visit  to  Mrs.  Nash's 
they  went  to  the  house  of  Allen  Lowrie,  where  they 
found  William  Lowrie,  his  son,  who  was  identified  as 
one  of  the  gang,  mending  or  fixing  his  gun.  They  ar- 
rested him.  They  searched  his  father's  house,  and 
finding  much  of  the  stolen  property  concealed  in  his 
house,  arrested  him  also.  A  brief  court-martial  was 
held.  Allert  and  William  Lowrie  were  both  found 
guilty  and  sentenced  to  be  shot.  William  attempted  to 
make  his  escape,  but  a  shot  from  one  of  the  company 
brought  him  down,  but  did  not  kill  him.  They  carried 
him  to  Mr.  Robert  McKinzie's,  where  they  had  several 
others,  who  had  been  also  arrested  and  held  in  con- 
finement by  members  of  the  same  company  for  exami- 
nation. Sufficient  evidence  was  not  obtained  to  crimi- 
nate any  of  the  party  except  Allen  and  William  Lowrie; 
the  others  were  released.  According  to  the  rules  of 
war  a  certain  number  or  men  were  detailed  to  execute 
the  sentence.  Allen  requested  time  to  pray,  which 
was  granted  him.  They  were  then  led  out  and  bound 
— a  short  pause — a  loud  report  -and  the  prisoners  fell 
lifeless  to  the  earth.      This    trial   and    execution    meted 


THE  LOWR1E  HISTORY.  41 

out  summary  justice  to  one  of  the  notorious  gang  and  an 
accomplice  in  crime,  who,  though  not  yet  recognized 
among  the  desperadoes,  was  as  guilty  as  those  who 
perpetrated  the  crimes. 

The  event  of  Lowries'  death  which  I  have  just  men- 
tioned, it  is  thought,  kindled  afresh  in  the  bosom  of 
Henry  Berry  the  fires  of  revenge,  which  are  always  so 
difficult  to  extinguish  in  the  breasts  of  Indians.  Noth- 
ing would  quench  that  fire  but  blood. 

But  now  for  a  time  the  robberies  in  the  community 
ceased  and  fora  while  the  minds  of  the  people  were  com- 
paratively quiet.  The  assault  upon  them  by  the  Home 
Guard  seemed  to  scatter  the  band  and  destroy  their  or- 
ganization. Before  that  they  had  entered  nearly  every 
house  in  an  area  of  six  or  ten  miles  square,  the  particu- 
lars of  which,  and  the  names  of  those  robbed,  will  be  giv- 
en by  one  better  acquainted    with  the    facts    than  I  am. 

Henry  Berry  went  to  his  home,  and  aftet  a  little 
time  he  became  so  bold  that  he  did  not  pretend  to  con- 
ceal himself  at  all.  The  other  negroes  went  home  also. 
The  people  felt  for  several  months  that  there  was  an 
end  to  trouble  of  this  sort;  and  doubtless  there  would 
have  been  but  few  more  outrages  committed  after  that 
but  for  the  remarkable  turn  which  government  matters 
took  at  the  close  of  the  war.  Emboldened  by  the  poli- 
cy of  the  dominant  party,  they  commenced  the  work  of 
revenge,  in  which  they  were  so  anxious  to  engage,  such 
as  robbing  and  murdering  those  in  opposition  to  them. 

We  will  now  proceed  to  give  a  list  of  the  crimes  as 
they  were  perpetrated,  and  every  outrage  committed 
by  the  Lowrie  band,  as  it  occurred: 


42  THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY. 

J.  P.  BARNES. 

The  first  murder  committed  by  the  Lowries  was  that 
of  James  P.  Barnes,  a  most  estimable  man  and  good 
citizen.  He  was  shot  about  9  o'clock  a.  m.,  December 
21st,  A.  D.,  1864,  and  died  in  the  afternoon  of  the  same 
day.  The  particulars  of  his  murder  are  these:  He  was 
post-master  at  Clay  Valley,  in  Robeson  county,  about  a 
mile  and  a  half  from  his  residence,  and  was  on  his  way 
to  the  post  office,  when  he  was  fired  on  by  three  men 
in  ambush,  twenty-eight  shot  lodging  in  his  breast.  He 
had  fallen  when  Henry  B.  Lowrie  ran  up  with  his  gun 
cocked;  Mr.  Barnes  recognized  him,  and  entreated  him 
not  to  shoot  him  any  more,  that  he  would  die  from  the 
wounds  already  received,  but  regardless  of  his  look  of 
agony,  or  his  earnest  pleading,  he  raised  his  gun  and 
discharged  it  in  the  face  of  Mr.  Barnes,  knocking  out 
several  teeth,  and  taking  off  part  of  his  under-jaw. 
The  cruel,  heartless  wretches  then  left  him  alone  in  the 
backwoods,  almost  in  the  last  agonies  of  death.  The 
hour  passed  for  him  to  be  at  the  office,  but  still  he  did 
not  come.  His  brother,  Dr.  John  A.  Barnes,  who  was 
there,  knowing  his  strict  punctuality  to  business,  and 
his  rigid  observance  of  every  duty,  felt  somewhat  alarm- 
ed at  his  prolonged  absence,  and  started  to  his  house  to 
learn  the  cause.  About  three-fourths  of  a  mile  from 
the  office  he  found  him,  wounded  in  the  manner  above 
stated.  He  removed  him  as  quickly  as  possible,  but  all 
efforts  to  prolong  his  life  proved  unavailing;  he  died  in 


NOTE  The  view  on  page  43  illustrates  the  mill  dam  near  Moss 
Neck  where  Mr.  J.  P.  Barnes  was  murdered.  The  man  standing 
near  a  clump  of  trees  is  where  the  meu  were  concealed  when  Mr. 
Barnes  was  passing  on  his  way  to  his  place  of  business. 


44  THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY. 

a  few  hours.  Although  so  badly  wounded,  the  power 
of  speech  was  not  denied  him;  he  told  them  it  was 
Henry  Berry  Lowrie  and  two  white  men  whom  he  did 
not  recognize;  those  were  supposed  to  be  Yankee 
prisoners,  who  afterwards  became  members  of  the  band. 
Mr.  Barnes  lived  on  the  Back  Swamp,  and  was  a  man 
very  fond  of  hunting  deer  and  turkeys;  he  had  no 
family,  and  his  leisure  hours  were  spent  in  this  way. 
Henry  Berry  Lowrie  lived  out  back  of  Mr.  Barnes,  and 
was  lurking  at  that  time  in  the  woods  to  avoid  being 
carried  to  the  forts  below  Wilmington  to  work.  It  was 
then  he  was  making  up  his  band  to  rob  and  plunder  the 
citizens  of  that  community.  Knowing  the  habits  of 
Mr.  Barnes,  and  for  fear  of  detection  by  him,  it  is  sup- 
posed for  this  reason  only,  he  determined  to  put  him  out 
of  the  way  by  murdering  him  in  the  cruel  manner  al- 
ready described.  There  had  been  some  little  disagree- 
ment between  Mr.  Barnes,  and  old  man  Lowrie  about 
some  cattle,  and  also  some  hogs  that  had  been  stolen 
from  Mr.  Barnes,  but  admitting  it  to  be  either  one  or  the 
other,  it  was  a  trivial  cause  for  which  to  waylay  and 
murder  in  cold  blood  a  good  man,  beloved  by  all,  just 
and  honest  in  all  Ins   dealings. 


J.    BRANTLY  HARRISS. 

The  next  on  record  comes  the  murder  of  Mr.  Harriss. 
This  occurred  in  January,  1865.  During  the  war  a 
call  was  made  upon  the  Indian  people  to  work  on  the 
defences  below  Wilmington.  George  Lowrie,  a  broth- 
er of  Allen  Lowrie,  had  several  sons — two  of  whom 
were   carried  off,  and  did  work  where  they    were   sent. 


THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY.  45 

After  remaining  there  some  time,  they  got  furloughs  to 
come  home  for  a  few  days;  they  were  at  home  but  a 
short  time  when  Harriss  had  them  arrested  as  deserters. 
It  seems  that  prior  to  this  there  had  been  some  feud 
existing  between  the  Lowries  and  Harriss.  However, 
Harriss  had  them,  and  left  with  them,  for  the  purpose 
as  he  stated,  of  putting  them  aboard  the  train  at  Moss 
Neck  Depot  to  send  them  back  to  their  work  on  the 
fortifications.  On  the  way  thither,  when  some  evil 
demon  took  possession  of  him,  he  murdered  them  both, 
cruelly  and  inhumanly.  A  jury  of  inquest  was  held 
over  them,  and  the  facts  of  the  murder  was  clearly  set 
forth  on  Harriss.  A  warrant  was  issued  for  Harriss' 
arrest  and  placed  in  the  hands  of  Sheriff 'King  on  Fri- 
day. The  Sunday  following  Harriss  was  riding  out 
with  a  woman  in  his  buggy;  after  she  got  out  of  the  buggy 
he  went  but  a  short  distance  when  he  was  shot  and  killed. 
The  young  Lowries  killed  by  Harriss  were  near  relatives 
of  H.  B.  Lowrie,  and  it  was  H.  B.  Lowrie  that  shot 
Harriss.  Harriss  was  the  only  man  killed  by  the  Lowrie 
Gang  that  did  not  sustain  a  fair  character.  He  had 
been  living  for  several  years  in  or  near  Scuffietown, 
and  was  a  man  feared  by  all  who  knew  him.  He  had  a 
wife  and  twro  children,  but  they  did  not  seem  to  pos- 
sess much   influence  over  him  for  good. 


ROBBERIES. 


It  was  in  February,  1865,  that  they  commenced  so 
openly  to  rob  and  plunder.  There  were  a  few  families 
that  escaped,  although  each  night  they  were  expected 
by  all  whom  they  had  not  visited.      It   was    certainly  a 


46  THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY. 

time  to  be  remembered  by  all,  both  old  and  young. 
The  nights  of  miserable  terror  and  days  of  dread  sus- 
pense, which  all  endured  during  their  operations  in  the 
neighborhood  are  indescribable.  The  first  place  that 
the  robbers  entered  a  house  openly  for  plunder  was 
Mrs.  Alexander  Bullards.  She  was  alone  in  the  house 
with  her  five  children,  her  husband  being  in  the  army, 
when  four  men,  armed  and  disguised,  walked  in.  They 
told  her  they  wanted  her  husband's  gun  and  clothing, 
which  they  took  without  much  ceremony.  A  negro  boy, 
belonging  to  Mr.  J,  D.  Bridgers,  had  a  wife  at  Mrs. 
Bullard's;  he  was  in  the  kitchen,  and  hearing  voices  in  the 
house,  with  that  curiosity  characteristic  of  the  race, 
slipped  out  to  see  who  it  was.  As  soon  as  he  saw  the 
situation  of  Mrs.  Bullard  he  turned  and  ran  a  mile  and 
a  quarter  to  his  master's,  and  on  reaching  the  gate,  had 
only  strength  to  call  the  name  of  his  young  master,  and 
fainted.  As  soon  as  he  could  be  restored  to  conscious- 
ness, in  broken  sentences  he  explained  the  situation  of 
Mrs.  B.  Mr.  Bridgers  and  his  son,  A.  C.  Bridgers,  (then 
15  years  of  age)  armed  themselves  and  the  negro  boy, 
and  went  as  quickly  as  possible  to  her  aid.  On  reach- 
ing there  they  found  all  q.uiet;  the  robbers  had  gone, 
taking  the  gun  and  a  few  articles  of  wearing  apparel. 
At  this  place  they  behaved  quietly,  used  no  insulting 
language,  nor  did  not  seem  to  have  any  desire  to  frighten 
her. 


JOHN  McNAIR. 

Mr.  McNair  lived  in  a  few  miles  of  the  Lowries.  He 
carried  on  a  large  farm,  having  many  hands  in  his  em- 
ploy;   this    necessarily    compelled    him    to    have    much 


THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY.  47 

building  done  on  his  plantation.      Several  of  the  Low- 
ries    being   carpenters,     good    workmen,    and    in    good 
standing    among    the   whites,    were    employed    by    Mr. 
McNair  for  this  purpose.     Being  so  employed  from  time 
to  time,  they  had  the  advantage  of  learning  the  situation 
of  affairs    in    general  about    the  premises,    which   they 
made  free  use  of,   much  to  Mr.  McNair's  discomfiture. 
It  may  be  well  to  speak  here  of  Mr.  McNair's  kindness 
to  many   of   them,  their  treatmeut  afterwards  showing 
how  utterly  devoid  of  gratitude  they  were  when  it  con- 
flicted  with    their    love    of    gain.      Mr.  McNair   was  an 
excellent  farmer,    and   made  much    produce    for    sale. 
The  Indians  having    very   small    farms,    many  of  them 
none  at  all,  were  often  reduced    to  the   necessity   of  go- 
ing among    the    whites    to    purchase    the    necessaries  of 
life.      Mr.  McNair  generously  supplied  their  wants  when 
they    called  upon    him,    never    turning    them  from    his 
door    empty;   sometimes  they    paid    him,    but    as  often 
failed  in  making  any  return  for  it.      The  following  lines 
will  show  how  much  he  suffered  by  them  pecuniarily, 
despite  all  his  kindness  to  them.      Their  first  visit  to  his 
house  for  plundei    was  in  April,  A.   D.  1864.      This  was 
before  any  regular   band    of    robbers    existed,  and    the 
Lowries  were  not  suspected  at  all   as    having   anything 
to  do  with  the  stealing  at  this  time  that  was  going  on, 
but  it  was  afterwards  proven  to  be  them  by  the  missing 
articles  being  found   in  their    possession    and  identified. 
At  the  time  of  the  above  mentioned   visit   they    entered 
the  study,  which  was  apart  from  the  main  dwelling,  but 
in  the  same  enclosure,  and  took  a  feather-bed.      In  the 
following  June  they  again    entered    the    study,    but    as 
everything    had   been   removed    except    one    bed-quilt, 
they  did  not  get  anything   but  that,    and    it  was  found 


48  THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY. 

sometime  afterwards  in  a  fodder  stack  near  Allen  Low- 
rie's  house.  It  was  supposed  that  numbers  of  the  gang 
had  been  sleeping  in  the  stack,  and  as  they  were  operat- 
ing on  a  small  scale,  being  about  the  commencement  of 
their  operations,  they  were  afraid  to  have  anything  in 
their  houses  that  could  be  identified  in  case  search  was 
made.  Up  to  this,  and  for  sometime  afterwards,  the 
citizens  of  the  community  did  not  suspicion  the  Low- 
ries,  and  were  astonished  when  some  of  them  were 
recognized  among  the  band,  as  they  had  heretofore  been 
considered  honest,  hard-working  people.  Old  Allen  Low- 
rie,  in  his  youthful  days,  had  been  guilty  of  taking  a 
sheep  which  he  supposed  belonged  to  an  uncle  of  his, 
but  it  turned  out  to  be  the  property  of  a  white  man. 
He  was  punished  for  this,  and  the  circumstance  almost 
entirely  forgotten  except  by  some  of  our  oldest  citizens, 
when  the  fact  of  his  aiding  the  robber  clan  was  dis- 
closed. In  December,  1864,  Mr.  McNair's  gin-house 
was  burned  down,  containing  twelve  or  fourteen  bales 
of  cotton  and  a  good  many  other  articles  of  much  value. 
In  January,  1865,  they  robbed  his  smoke-house  and 
store-room;  this  time  taking  a  large  quantity  of  pork 
and  a  good  many  other  valuable  things.  After  this, 
except  an  occasional  visit  to  their  poultry  yard,  they 
were  undisturbed  until  June,  1867,  when  they  again 
entered  the  study  and  dining-room.  From  the  study 
they  took  another  bed,  bolster,  pillows,  blankets,  sheets, 
combs,  brushes,  a  quantity  of  clothing,  &c.  From  the 
dining-room  they  took  crockery-ware,  knives,  silver 
forks  and  spoons.  On  the  night  of  the  23rd  of  January, 
1868,  they  entered  the  dwelling-house  by  means  un- 
known to  the  family,  though  the  probability  is  that  some 
of  the  gang  were  secreted  in  the  house  before  the  doors 


THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY.  49 

were  closed  for  the  night,  and  after  the  family  were 
locked  in  slumber,  admitted  the  balance  of  their  party. 
They  entered  the  bed-room  where  the  family  were 
sleeping,  took  the  candle  from  the  mantle-piece  where 
Mrs.  McNairhad  placed  it  on  retiring,  lit  it  with  a  match, 
and  searched  the  entire  house  thoroughly.  They  took 
from  Mr.  McNair's  pockets  his  pocket-book  containing 
one  hundred  and  twenty-five  dollars  ($125)  in  money, 
valuable  notes  and  other  articles.  They  took  his  guns, 
nearly  all  the  keys  in  the  house,  and  a  fine  gold  watch. 
Four  years  afterwards,  when  those  brave  men  killed 
Tom  Lowrie,  they  took  a  watch  off  his  person  which 
was  identified  as  Mr.  McNair's,  and  returned  it  to  him. 
But  to  return:  They  robbed  the  dioing-room  and  pantry, 
and  searched  the  pocket  of  Mrs.  McNair's  dress,  taking 
two  bunches  of  keys  from  it.  They  then  went  into  a 
back  room,  broke  open  a  trunk,  took  everything  out  of 
it,  evidently  searching  for  money;  but  finding  nothing 
but  Mrs.  McNair's  summer  clothing,  left  it  piled  on  the 
floor,  with  the  contents  of  the  pocket-book,  except  the 
money,  lying  on  top.  About  midnight  Mr.  McNair  was 
taken  with  a  violent  headache,  to  which  he  was  subject, 
and  aroused  Mrs.  McNair  to  give  him  something  to  re- 
lieve it.  She  arose  and  went  to  get  the  candle  where 
she  was  sure  she  had  placed  it,  and  it  was  gone;  she  un- 
locked a  closet  in  her  room,  and  got  another  candle  and 
lighted  it.  She  looked  around  and  found  Mr.  McNair's 
clothes  missing.  On  further  examination  she  discovered 
that  the  house  had  been  robbed  of  a  good  deal.  They 
both  went  out  into  the  yard  and  about  the  out-houses, 
hoping  that  the  robbers  might  have  dropped  some  of  the 
keys;  but  in  this  they  were  disappointed.  Between  that 
and  the  summer  of  1871   they  made  frequent  raids  on 


50  THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY. 

the  dining-room,  pantry  and  fowl  house,  each  time  tak- 
ing a  good  supply.  At  one  of  their  visits  about  this 
time,  they  shot  the  yard  dog  on  the  porch.  In  all  their 
raids  at  his  house,  Mr.  McNair  did  not  discover  them 
but  once;  he  found  they  were  in  his  pantry.  They 
soon  learned  that  they  were  discovered  and  made  good 
their  retreat.  Mr.  McNair  fired  two  or  three  times  af- 
ter them,  but  they  did  not  return  the  fire. 

In  February,  1871,  Mr.  McNair  was  on  his  way  to 
Red  Banks;  when  about  a  mile  or  so  from  the  Banks,  he 
met  four  of  the  robber  clan  in  a  turpentine  wagon;  they 
ordered  him  to  stop  or  they  would  shoot  him.  He 
checked  his  horse,  and  Steve  Lowrie  walked  up  and 
caught  his  bridle;  H.  B.  Lowrie  and  Boss  Strong  then 
went  up  to  him,  took  him  by  his  hands,  one  on  each 
side,  and  inquired  if  he  had  a  pistol;  he  told  them  he 
had  not,  and  pushed  Boss  Strong  from  him.  Boss 
Strong  then  took  his  buggy  whip  and  struck  him  across 
the  head  with  it  one  time,  and  one  of  the  others  struck 
him  with  his  gun;  Steve  Lowrie  then  called  out  and 
said:  "Boys,  I  told  you  not  to  hurt  him."  Henry  Berry 
then  searched  his  pockets,  taking  his  pocket-book  and 
several  letters  that  he  was  carrying  to  the  office  to  be 
mailed.  He  handed  the  letters  to  Tom  Lowrie,  and  he 
kept  the  pocket-book,  stepping  to  one  side  to  examine  its 
contents.  After  he  had  satisfied  himself  as  to  what  it 
contained,  he  turned  to  Mr.  McNair  and  asked  him 
which  he  preferred,  to  have  his  pocket-book  and  go 
back  home,  or  for  him  (H.  B.  Lowrie)  to  keep  the  pocket 
book  and  allow  Mr.  McNair  to  go  on  to  the  Banks.  He  re- 
plied that  he  had  business  at  the  Banks,  and  he  intended 
going  unless  they  killed  him,  and  he  wanted  both  the 
pocket-book  and  letters,  which  Tom  Lowrie  had  still  in 


THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY.  51 

possession.  Henry  Berry  gave  him  the  pocket-book,  telling 
him  as  he  had  but  fifteen  dollars  ($15)  in  it  he  would  not 
take  it.  Tom  Lowrie  handed  him  two  of  the  letters,  re- 
taining five.  They  then  told  him  he  could  go  on,  but  to  say 
nothing  to  any  one  about  meeting  th2m;  but  he  paid  no 
attention  to  the  last  order.  There  was  a  young  lady 
with  Mr.  McNair  at  the  time,  and  she  was  badly  fright- 
ened. 

The  last  raid  made  on  Mr.  McNair  was  in  June, 
1871.  They  entered  the  dining-room  and  pantry,  this 
time  taking  nearly  everything  they  could  find,  leaving 
no  place  unsearched.  They  took  a  barrel  and  a  half 
of  flour,  a  lot  of  silverware,  some  clothing,  and  numerous 
other  articles. 

On  the  morning  of  the  14th  of  July,  1871,  about  day- 
light, five  armed  men  were  seen  approaching  the  house 
of  Mr.  McNair.  They  supposed  them  to  be  the  militia, 
who  were  out  at  the  time  in  search  of  the  gang.  They 
came  up  in  front  of  the  house,  and  called  Mr.  McNair 
out  to  them.  They  conversed  with  him  for  perhaps  a 
half  hour.  Mrs.  McNair,  thinking  that  it  was  some  of 
our  men  who  were  tired  and  hungry,  went  out  and  or- 
dered breakfast  prepared  for  them.  She  knew  no  better 
until  breakfast  was  ready,  and  Mr.  McNair  came  in 
and  told  her  it  was  the  Lowrie  band,  and  they  wanted 
something  to  eat.  She  sent  them  word  to  go  around  to 
the  dining-room,  where  they  would  find  breakfast 
waiting.  They  went  into  breakfast,  taking  their  arms 
with  them.  Their  object  on  this  visit  was  to  get  Mr. 
McNair  to  write  a  letter  for  them,  to  take  it  down  to 
Lumberton  and  deliver  it  to  Col.  Sinclair  and  Sheriff 
McMillan,  ordering  the  release  of  their  wives,  who  had 
been  arrested   a  few   days    previous.      Soon    after   the 


52  THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY. 

robber  clan  ate  their  breakfast  they  left.  Mr.  McNair 
made  ready  and  went  to  Lumberton,  not  only  to  deliver 
the  letter  to  the  parties  named,  but  also  to  use  his  in- 
fluence in  behalf  of  the  women  kept  in  confinement,  for 
the  people  in  the  country  were  entirely  at  their  mercy, 
and  they  had  made  such  threats  with  regard  to  the 
ladies  of  the  community  that  the  excitement  was  so 
great  that  several  families  moved  from  their  homes  to 
places  more  remote  from  their  lines  of  action.  Further 
particulars  with  regard  to  the  success  of  Mr.  McNair's 
visit  to  Lumberton  will  be  given  more  fully  hereafter. 
A  guard  of  fifty  men  were  proffered  Mr.  McNair  on  his 
leaving  the  village,  to  accompany  him  home;  this  he  re- 
fused, well  knowing  should  he  return  so  accompanied 
that  it  would  raise  the  ire  of  the  robber  gang,  and  as 
soon  as  his  guard  would  leave  him  he  would  be  liable 
to  be  murdered  by  them. 

Mrs.  McNair  was  left  entirely  alone  (except  the  ser- 
vants) during  the  day  of  this  visit,  and  suffered  much 
uneasiness.  She  expected  they  would  lurk  around  the 
premises  and  in  the  absence  of  Mr.  McNair,  return  and 
commit  more  of  their  depredations,  but  they  did  not. 
She  talked  to  them  freely  of  their  frequent  robberies 
there,  which  they  did  not  deny.  Her  greatest  anxiety, 
though,  was  for  Mr.  McNair's  safety.  She  feared  that 
he  might  be  unsuccessful,  and  they  would  probably 
meet  him  somewhere  on  the  road  on  his  return,  and  on 
learning  the  truth  would  become  so  enraged  as  to  wreak 
their  vengeance  on  him.  They  did  meet  him,  but  forbore 
to  injure  him  personally.  This  was  on  Friday,  and 
they  said  if  their  wives  were  not  released  by  the  fol- 
lowing Monday  afternoon,  that  Robeson  county  would 
be  deluged  in  blood;  after  that  time  they  would  know 


THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY.  53 

no  man,  but  would  shoot  down  every  one  that  passed 
them;  that  hitherto  they  had  not  interfered  with  the 
women,  that  they  had  scorned  it,  but  after  then  they 
might  take  care,  that  they  were  safe  no  longer.  Many 
such  threats  were  made  by  them  on  this  occasion, 
which  is  needless  to  mention. 

A  half-mile  below  Mr.  McNair's,  on  the  Lumberton 
road,  they  called  in  at  Mr.  McRaken's  and  ordered  his 
wife  to  cook  some  provisions  for  them,  which  they  had 
with  them.  They  stayed  until  it  was  cooked,  behaving 
very  quietly.  They  took  it  and  left;  came  on  a  short 
distance  to  Mr.  Patterson's,  and  finding  no  one  at  the 
house  but  the  ladies,  they  remained  only  a  short  time, 
but  proceeded  to  a  field  where  Mr.  McN.  Patterson 
(who  afterwards  assisted  in  the  killing  of  Steve  Lowrie) 
and  his  father  were  at  work.  They  called  Mr.  Mc  P.  to 
them  and  conversed  with  him  for  some  time,  making 
threats  to  him  also  as  to  what  they  intended  doing  with 
the  ladies  of  the  community.  They  then  came  on  to  the 
house  of  Mr.  Jas.  D.  Bridgers,  where  they  remained 
until  nearly  time  for  McNair's  return,  when  they  left, 
going  down  the  road  in  the  direction  which  Mr.  Mc- 
Nair  would  come.  A  further  account  of  this  will  be 
given  in  the  chapter  containing  the  particulars  of  their 
depredations  at  Mr.  Bridgers'.  The  United  States  sol- 
diers, as  well  as  the  militia  in  command  of  Capt.  F.  M. 
Wishart,  were  stationed  only  a  few  miles  above.  The 
friends  of  the  robber  gang,  scattered  here  and  there 
throughout  the  county,  would  convey  to  them  the 
whereabouts  of  the  enemy,  and  thus  they  succeeded  in 
eluding  them  on  every  occasion. 


54  THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY. 

RICHARD  TOWNSEND. 

On  the    night   or    the    14th    of  December,  1864,  they 
went  to  the  house  of  Mr.    Richard  Townsend  and  took 
his  gun.      It  was  sometime  after  supper;  Mrs.    T.  was 
sitting   in    her  room,    with  all  the  doors    of  the  house 
open.      She  heard    some   one    speak    to  a  servant  in  an 
adjoining  room,   and  immediately  afterwards  footsteps 
approaching   towards  her  room    door;    she    raised   her 
eyes,    and    standing    at    the    door    was    a  man  she  had 
never  seen  before.      He  asked  her  where  her  husband 
was;  she  pointed  to  the  bed,  where  Mr.  T.  was  asleep; 
he  then  asked  why  he    was    not    in  the  army,  and  went 
on  to  say  that  he  (the    robber)    was   hunting    deserters, 
and  was  out  of   ammunition,    and   wanted   Mr.    Town- 
send  to  give  him  some  powder  and  his  gun.      She  told 
him  that  he  was  not  hunting  deserters;  that  he  was  one 
himself,  with    a    courage    and    fearlessness    that  belong 
only  to  the  ladies  of  the  South.      "Well,"  replied  the 
robber,  "If  I  am,    what  is  that  to  you?  Give  me  a  shirt, 
the    gun  and  powder."      Mrs.    T.   then  arose  from  her 
seat,  awoke  her    husband,  who   went    to    get    the   gun, 
while  she  got  the  shirt.      The  things  brought,    the    ban- 
dit took  them,  bidding  them  both    good  evening,  joined 
his  party,  who  were  awaiting    him  on  the  piazza  at  the 
front  of  the  house,  and  departed  for  that  night.      They 
were  there  several  times  afterwards,   the  particulars  of 
which  will  be  seen  on  another  page. 


JACKSON  TOWNSEND. 

In  a  few  weeks  after  their  visit  to  Mr.  Richard  Town- 
send's   they  called  at  the  house  of  his  brother  Jackson. 


THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY.  55 

He  was  in  the  army,  and  no  one  with  his  wife,  except 
her  children  and  the  servants.  Mrs.  T.  had  just  gone 
in  from  supper,  and  hearing  footsteps  on  the  piazza, 
looked  out  through  the  window,  and  discovered  a  man 
standing  in  the  piazza,  near  the  window;  he  was  a 
white  man.  Avsoaa  ashesawhe  was  discovered  he  raised 
the  window,  and  Mrs.  T.  pulled  it  down;  he  then  put 
his  gun  under  it  and  raised  it  again.  This  time  she 
stepped  to  one  side,  and  he  came  in.  He  asked  her  why 
she  did  not  open  the  door.  She  replied  that  she  did  not 
know  there  was  any  one  there.  He  was  the  only  one 
that  came  in  on  this  occasion,  and  he  would  not  suffer 
the  doors  to  be  opened.  Mrs.  Townsend  looked  out  to 
see  if  there  were  anv  more,  and  counted  five  others  on 
the  piazza.  The  one  in  the  house  asked  her  if  she  saw 
them  all.  She  told  she  did.  He  said:  "No,  you  haven't; 
I  have  a  dozen  more  out  in  the  road."  He  then  searched 
the  house,  taking  the  gun  and  several  other  articles. 
He  then  left.  A  few  nights  afterwards  they  came  again. 
This  time  two  entered  the  house — one  a  very  tall,  heavy- 
built  man,  answering  the  description  of  one  William- 
son, from  Columbus  county,  who  was  afterwards 
identified  as  belonging  to  the  robber  clan,  and  killed  by 
some  unknown  person  or  persons  near  his  old  home  in 
Columbus.  His  companion  was  a  very  small  man,  also 
white.  The  tail  man  did  all  the  searching  that  was 
done  each  time.  They  asked  Mrs.  Townsend  for  wine; 
she  told  them  she  had  some  she  was  keeping  for  sick- 
ness. They  told  her  to  get  it.  She  brought  it  out,  in 
a  demijohn  and  jng.  They  took  it  all  and  set  it  in  the 
piazza;  but  when  they  started  off  they  gave  her  back 
the  demijohn,  telling  her  she  might  keep  that  and  they 


56  THE  LOWR1E  HISTORY. 

would  take  the  other,  as  she  would  not  need  it  all  for 
sickness.  They  called  a  few  nights  afterwards  for  the 
demijohn,  all  took  a  drink,  and  gave  her  back  the 
balance.  The  tall  man  was  in  the  dining  room,  and 
she  requested  his  comrade  to  ask  him  to  come  out, 
which  he  did.  As  he  came  out  she  saw  that  he  was 
wrapped  in  one  of  her  blankets.  She  told  him  it  was 
hers,  but  he  said  no,  he  had  brought  it  with  him.  She 
believed  it  to  be  false,  and  was  convinced  of  the  fact 
when  she  found  hers  was  missing.  Mrs.  Townsend 
went  through  some  of  the  rooms  with  him,  all  the  time 
watching,  as  she  thought,  his  every  move,  but  he  was 
such  an  adept  at  stealing  that  he  carried  off  a  good 
many  articles  that  she  did  not  see  him  take.  After  they 
were  through  plundering,  they  told  her  they  wanted 
her  horse  and  buggy,  and  on  her  objecting,  told  her 
they  would  take  them  whether  she  was  willing  or  not. 
They  took  a  lighted  candle,  went  out  to  examine  the 
buggy,  and  finding  it  insufficient  for  their  purpose, 
left  without  taking  it.  They  proceeded  again  to  Mr. 
Richard  Townsends,  one  mile  distant,  and  took  his 
buggy,  carriage  and  horses,  and  went  on  to  Mr.  Joseph 
Thompson's  and  Henry  Bullock  Jr's.  They  took  a 
negro  to  drive  the  carriage,  and  sent  them  back  just 
before  daylight  the  next  morning,  very  much  jaded. 
Sometime  during  the  year  1865  they  visited  Mr.  Town- 
send's  again.  This  time  they  beat  and  banged  against 
the  doors,  and  on  failing  to  get  in,  retired  a  short  dis- 
tance and  fired  two  guns  into  the  house,  but  did  no 
further  damage.  They  robbed  his  smoke-house  after 
this,  taking  a  large  lot  of  bacon.  In  April,  1869,  Mrs. 
Townsend,  with  her  sister,  went  into  a  back  room,  and 
discovered    a    dark    man    under    the   bed.      She  retired 


THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY.  57 

hastily  to  inform  her  husband;  but  he,  guessing  from 
her  hasty  retreat  that  he  had  been  seen,  sprung  through 
the  window  and  made  his  escape.  The  rest  of  the 
gang  were  waiting  for  the  family  to  retire,  and  this 
fellow,  who  had  by  some  means  gotten  into  the  house, 
was  to  admit  the  others.  The  tracks  of  their  party 
were  plainly  discernible  the  next  morning  in  the  garden, 
where  they  had  stolen  all  of  Mrs.  Townsend's  onions. 
They  came  several  times  afterwards,  but  did  no  dam- 
age, except  to  kill  their  yard  dog.  Their  purposes 
were  so  often  thwarted  there  that  they  desisted  any 
further  molestation  at  his    house. 


JOSEPH  THOMPSON. 

The  first  visit  to  Mr.  Thompson's  by  the  clan  was  in 
March,  1865.  Only  white  men  entered  the  house, 
eight  in  number.  It  was  after  night,  and  they  came 
up  cheering  and  shouting,  "the  Yankees  are  coming." 
The  first  thing  they  did  after  entering  the  house  was  to 
take  Mr.  Thompson,  with  three  other  gentlemen  who 
were  his  guests  for  the  night,  prisoners.  They  behaved 
here  very  roughly,  cursing  loudly  and  firing  off  their 
guns  in  the  house.  Mrs.  Thompson,  an  aged  lady,  in- 
sisted on  their  giving  her  some  articles  that  they  were 
taking,  which  she  prized,  but  they  refused,  at  the  same 
time  firing  a  pistol  over  her  head,  the  contents  lodging  in 
the  wall  beyond  From  their  conduct  on  this  occasion 
they  were  undoubtedly  drunk,  as  it  was  a  short  time 
previous  to  this  that  they  had  stolen  a  large  quantity  of 
brandy  from  Mr.  Bullock.  They  took  guns,  clothing 
and  bid-clothing  to  a  large  amount.  They  took  the  hats 


58  THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY. 

of  the  gentlemen  who  were  there,  and  left  them  to  go 
home  bareheaded.  They  went  so  far  as  to  parole  the 
men  as  prisoners  of  war.  The  Lowries  remained  in 
the  yard  receiving  and  stowing  away  the  stolen  property. 
In  the  year  1870  they  visited  Mr.  T.  again,  this  time, 
as  they  avowed,  for  the  purpose  of  murdering  a  man 
by  the  name  of  Perry,  who  was  superintending  Mr. 
Thompson's  farm.  When  the  militia  were  ordered  out 
in  the  county,  Perry  was  among  them.  He,  with  a 
small  squad  of  men,  fired  on  the  robber  gang.  Some 
of  their  friends  and  informants  reported  to  them  that 
Perry  was  at  the  head  of  the  party.  This  was  suffi- 
cient to  arouse  their  resentment,  and  it  was  their  in- 
tention on  this  occasion  to  sate  their  thirst  for  revenge 
by  taking  his  life.  They  had  been  prowling  around 
Mr.  Thompson's  plantation  for  some  time  for  this  pur- 
pose, but  Mr.  Perry  being  very  cautious,  they  had  not 
succeeded  in  meeting  him.  On  this  night  Mr.  T.  was 
walking  out,  when  he  was  hailed  and  arrested  by  three 
armed  men,  headed  by  Stephen  Lowrie.  He  demanded 
of  Mr.  T.  the  whereabouts  of  Mr.  Perry,  and  compelled 
him  to  conduct  them  to  his  house,  saying  they  intended 
killing  him  that  night.  Mr.  Perry,  hearing  voices  and 
suspecting  it  to  be  the  robber  clan,  made  his  escape 
through  a  back  door,  thus  eluding  them.  After  they 
learned  that  Mr.  Perry  had  escaped,  they  returned 
with  Mr.  Thompson  to  his  house,  and  asked  him  for 
some  tobacco  and  bacon,  which  he  gave  them,  well 
knowing  that  they  would  take  it  if  he  refused. 


HENRY  BULLOCK,  JR. 

In  February,    1865,    the  robber  clan  drove  up  to  Mr. 
Henry  Bullock's  in  the  vehicles  pressed  into  their  ser- 


THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY.  59 

vice   at    Mr.    Richard    Townsend's.      On    reaching    his 
gate,   they  sprang  out,    entered  his  yard  and  burst  into 
his  house.      Eight  men  came   in,    several  others  remain- 
ing in  the  yard;  one  of  those  in  the  house  kept  his  hat 
pulled  over  his  face,  fearing,  no  doubt,  that  he  might  be 
recognized.      The  captain   of  the  band  sat  down  in  a 
corner  by  the  hearth,   and  ordered  Mr.    Bullock   in   a 
very   peremptory    manner    to    "raise    a    light,    or  they 
would  do  it  for  him."      With  that  cool  courage  that  the 
nature  of  the  case  demanded  he  replied,    "If  you  can 
make  a  light  quicker  than  I  can,   you  may  do  it,"  but 
the  renegade  Yankee  kept  his  seat,   allowing  Mr.  B.  to 
make  the  fire.       After  he  was  through  he  looked  around 
on  his  unwelcome   visitors,  and  discovered  seven  ran- 
sacking his  house  from  garret  to  cellar.      Their  leader 
kept  his  seat  quietly  during  the  plundering,    no   doubt 
having  issued  all  orders  necessary  before  reaching  their 
destination.      Those  in  the  house  threw  the  things  from 
the  windows,  when  they  were  taken  by  their  comrades 
on  the  outside  and  stowed  away     in  the    waiting   ve- 
hicles.     The  Lowries  had  just  commenced  their  career 
of  stealing    and    plundering,    and    had    not  grown  bold 
enough   to    enter     houses    when     there   was    the     least 
probability  of  their    being    recognized.      They    carried 
off  a  large  quantity  of  clothing,    bed-clothing,  &c.      Mr. 
Bullock  had  a  lot  of  brandy  on  hand,   of  his  own  make, 
of  which  they   partook    pretty    freely    while  there,  and 
carried   off    about     thirty     gallons.      After    they    were 
through   plundering,   they    turned    to    Mr.    Bullock  and 
told  him  they   would  not  hurt  him;  he  replied:      "The 
d  —  1  you  won't."      They    referred    to  his  person,    but 
he    considered    himself    badly    treated    in  a  pecuniary 
point  of  view.      They   visited  Mr.    B.   again   after  this; 


60  THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY. 

there  were  only  three  this  time,  supposed  to  be  a  por- 
tion of  the  band,  or  at  least  co-operating  with  the  Low- 
ries.  It  was  afterwards  learned  that  they  were  desert- 
ers from  the  Confederate  ranks,  two  of  whom  were 
killed,  the  other  is  still  living.  A  night  or  two  after  the 
robbing  of  Mr.  Bullock,  a  colored  man  who  was  passing 
Allen  Lowrie's  called  in  to  have  a  chat  with  him;  on 
going  in  he  fell  in  with  the  whole  robber  gang.  They 
were  drinking,  and  some  of  them  were  drunk;  now  and 
then  one  of  the  number  would  take  a  drink  and  say, 
"This  tastes  like  old  Henry  Bullock's  brandy,"  which 
convinced  the  visitor  that  it  was  their  party  which  not 
only  robbed  Mr.  Bullock,  but  who  were  also  commit- 
ting all  the  depredations  in  the  neighborhood.  One  of 
the  escaped  Yankee  prisoners  would  go  up  to  the  old 
man  Lowrie,  pat  him  on  the  head  and  say,  "Ah,  my 
old  gentleman,  or  friend,  after  this  war  is  over  you  will 
be  a  great  general."  In  this  way  they  took  advantage 
of  his  credulity,  gained  his  confidence,  and  by  their 
flattery  led  him  to  permit  them  to  make  his  house  their 
headquarters,  which  eventually  was  the  cause  of  the 
old  man's  death.  The  man  who  called  in  was  badly 
frightened,  and  made  it  convenient  to  leave  as  soon  as 
he  could  without  exciting  suspicion. 


MRS.  MARTHA  ASHLEY. 

Sometime  during  January  or  the  first  of  February, 
1865,  they  went  to  Mrs.  Ashley's  and  demanded  ad- 
mittance; she  inquired  what  they  wanted;  one  answered 
in  a  feminine  voice,  "We  want  your  money."  She  told 
them  they  could  not  get  it,  that  she  had  it  in  her  pocket. 


THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY.  61 

They  then  tried  doors  and  windows,  but  failed  to  get  in; 
left  to  return  in  a  few  nights  afterwards.  Mrs.  Ashley  was 
away  from  home  this  time,  but  she  had  a  man  em- 
ployed to  carry  on  her  farm  by  the  name  of  Paul,  and 
he  was  there.  They  had  fallen  on  another  plan  to 
effect  an  entrance;  they  hailed  at  the  door,  and  Mr. 
Paul  inquired  who  it  was;  they  answered  him,  saying 
it  was  Needham  Thompson  (a  brother  of  Mrs.  Ashley) 
and  Council,  (a  negro  belonging  to  her  father.)  Mr. 
Paul  opened  the  door,  and  in  rushed  the  robber  gang, 
blackened  and  otherwise  disguised,  and  also  heavily 
armed.  They  ransacked  the  house,  taking  off  bed- 
clothing,  wearing  apparel  and  anything  else  they  could 
conveniently  carry.  This  was  the  first  time  that  the 
whole  band  entered  a  house  in  disguise.  The  news 
spread  from  house  to  house  in  a  few  hours,  and  the 
reign  of  terror,  which  had  in  some  degree  subsided, 
again  held  sway  over  the  entire  community. 


DAVID  TOWNSEND,    ESQ. 

February,  1865,  they  entered  the  house  of  Mr. 
Townsend  sometime  during  the  night,  after  the  family 
had  retired.  They  raised  a  window  of  a  back  room, 
which  was  unoccupied,  and  came  in;  they  could  easily 
go  over  the  house  after  getting  in  the  room,  as  none  of  the 
doors  were  locked  except  those  on  the  outside.  They 
took  a  large  trunk,  containing  all  of  Mr.  Townsend's 
valuable  papers,  a  small  amount  of  specie,  a  good 
deal  of  Confederate  money,  &c.  The  trunk  was  sitting 
in  a  room  adjoining  the  one  in  which  the  family  slept. 
A  hat,  coat,  some  guns  and  a  blanket  off  of  one  of  the 
beds  comprised  about  all  they  took  there  on  that  visit; 


62  THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY. 

they  took  the  guns  from  a  closet  in  the  room  where  the 
family  were  seeping.  Several  months  afterwards  the 
trunk  was  found  in  the  woods  some  distance  from  the 
house;  they  had  left  the  Confederate  money  and  most 
of  his  papers  in  the  trunk.  They  visited  Mr.  Town- 
send's  several  times  after  this.  At  one  time  they  took 
his  buggy-apron  and  harness,  then  went  into  a  little 
out-house,  where  he  kept  his  carpenter-tools  and  also 
had  a  bale  of  cotton,  which  they  cut  open,  and  carried 
off  the  most  of  his  valuable  tools;  awhile  after  this 
tliey  went  to  his  black-smith  shop  and  took  a  good 
many  of  his  tools  from  there.  In  July,  1870,  they  went 
again;  that  time  for  provisions.  Mr.  Townsend,  like 
every  one  else,  was  expecting  them  every  night,  and 
slept  with  his  fire-arms  at  his  side,  all  in  good  fix  for  an 
attack;  he  heard  a  slight  noise  and  slipped  out;  he  found 
they  were  trying  to  enter  his  smoke-house  by 
boring,  so  as  to  cut  out  the  logs.  He  quietly  went 
back,  prepared  himself  and  fired  upon  them;  they  im- 
mediately returned  the  fire,  and  kept  it  up  for  some- 
time pretty  sharply.  He  passed  from  room  to  room  in 
,  both  upper  and  lower  stories  of  his  dwelling  and  kept 
up  a  continual  fire,  without  being  exposed  out- 
side of  his  walls;  they,  on  this  account,  being  unable 
to  locate  him,  fired  into  the  house  from  all  sides, 
leaving  as  the  marks  of  this  visit  fully  five  hundred  shot- 
holes.  There  was  no  one  injured  in  the  house  except 
Mrs.  Alfred  Rowland,  (a  daughter  of  Mrs.  Townsend) 
who  was  on  a  visit  there  at  the  time;  she  had  retired 
and  was  asleep,  but  was  aroused  by  the  firing,  and  learn- 
ing that  they  were  shooting  into  the  house,  rolled  off 
of  the  bed,  and  just  as  she  reached  the  floor  a  spent  ball 
struck  her  in  the  breast,  and  almost   buried  itself  in  the 


THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY.  63 

flesh;  she  picked  it  out  with  her  fingers,  and  did  not  suffer 
any  great  inconvenience  from  it.  Mr.  Townsend  made 
a  very  narrow  escape  at  one  time  during  the  fire;  he 
stepped  out  into  the  piazza  and  immediately  two  fired 
on  him,  scattering  the  shot  all  around  him,  one  ball 
passing  over  his  head,  crashing  the  glass  and  lodging 
in  the  wall  beyond.  He,  with  a  renewed  energy,  opened 
fire  upon  them  again,  when  one  of  the  gang  stepped 
out  and  called  to  him  with  an  oath,  to  shoot— that  they 
were  fond  o*  such  music;  he  fired  at  once  to  the  spot 
from  whence  the  voice  proceeded,  and  gave  him  the 
wound  that  sent  him  in  a  few  days  to  list  to  music  less 
congenial.  The  name  of  this  man  was  said  to  be  Gil- 
berts, the  murderer  of  young  Lutterloh,  of  Fayette- 
ville;  he  was  with  the  gang  under  the  assumed  name  of 
Smith.  While  some  of  the  crowd  were  firing,  others 
succeeded  in  entering  the  smoke-house,  and  carried  off 
a  large  lot  of  bacon,  lard,  wool,  &c.  There  was  more 
than  one  of  their  party  who  carried  off  samples  of  Mr. 
Townsend's  shot  on  this  occasion;  they  openly  threat- 
ened to  take  his  life,  and  went  to  his  house  several 
times  to?  this  purpose,  but  he,  unknown  to  them,  had 
removed  to  Lumberton  for  safety.  They  were  seen  by 
some  of  the  negroes  very  early  one  morning,  soon  after 
Mr.  T.  left  home,  lurking  around  his  premises;  they  re- 
ported it  to  Mrs.  Townsend,  and  she  at  once  dispatched 
messengers  to  her  neighbors  for  assistance,  Several 
armed  themselves,  mounted  their  horses  and  speedily 
hastened  to  meet  the  desperadoes,  but  on  reaching  Mr. 
Townsend's  found  all  quiet;  they  did  not  enter  the 
house,  only  went  up  to  the  back  gate,  surveyed  the 
surroundings  and  retired.  It  is  very  probable  that 
some  of  those  around  the   place  gave  them  an  inkling  of 


64  THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY. 

affairs,  and  they  concluded  that  discretion  was  the 
better  part  of  valor  this  time.  On  their  return  to  their 
homes  on  that  day  they  calied  at  the  house  of  Mr. 
Sandy  McKenzie;  there  was  no  one  at  the  house  except 
Mrs.  Nevin,  (Mr.  McKenzie's  mother-in-law)  and  an 
old  black  woman,  those  they  put  under  guard,  and  ran- 
sacked the  house,  taking  all  the  gentlemen's  clothing 
they  could  find.  There  were  two  young  ladies  from 
Anson  count/  0:1  a  visit  there  at  the  time,  the  Misses 
Lilly,  and  they  were  out  spending  the  day,  but  had  left 
their  mDney  concealed  between  the  bed  and  mattress. 
In  their  search  they  found  that,  and  took  it  as  a  matter 
of  coarse.  The  last  visit  of  the  robber  clan  to  Mr. 
Townsend's  was  in  November,  1870.  Some  one  hailed 
at  the  gate.  Mr.  Jones,  a  man  employed  at  Mr.  Town- 
send's, went  out  to  see  who  it  was,  and  found  four  of  the 
clan;  they  conversed  with  him  a  short  time,  and  re- 
quested him  to  go  in  and  tell  Mrs.  T.  that  they  were 
there,  and  wished  to  come  in.  He  started  in,  they  fol- 
lowed on  and  waited  at  the  door  until  he  should 
acquaint  Mrs.  T.  of  their  presence;  they  went  in  and 
behaved  very  respectfully.  They  asked  her  for  some- 
thing to  eat;  she  sent  out  and  had  supper  brought  into 
the  room  where  they  were  sitting.  Henry  Berry  Low- 
rie  did  not  eat  anything,  but  the  others,  George  Apple- 
white, Henderson  Oxendine  and  Boss  Strong  ate  very 
heartily.  Mrs.  Townsend  then  asked  them  if  they 
wanted  anything  else,  and  they  told  her  they  would 
like  to  have  a  few  potatoes;  she  sent  Mr.  Jones  out  with 
them  to  the  potato-hill,  where  they  had  deposited  their 
sacks;  they  took  about  five  bushels  and  left  without  fur- 
ther damage.  They  no  doubt  went  there  with  far  dif- 
ferent intentions,  but  were  completely  overcome  by  Mrs. 


THE  LOWR1E  HISTORY.  65 

Townsend's  kindness.  On  the  night  of  the  6th  of  Janu- 
ary, 1874,  Mr.  Townsend's  dwelling-house  and  kitchen 
were  burned  down,  his  loss  amounting  to  between  five 
and  six  thousand  dollars;  there  is  no  doubt  but  Steve 
Lowrie  led  the  party  that  applied  the  torch,  as  he  had 
threatened  to  kill  or  burn  out  those  who  fed  or  in  any 
way  aided  the  men  who  were  in  search  of  him. 


THE  ROBBING  OF  DANIEL  BAKER,  McKAY  SEL- 
LERS, WILLIAM  A.  SELLERS  AND  MRS.  DR. 
NEIL  McNAIR. 

Those  foul  robberies  were  all  committed  on  the  same 
night,  viz  :  28th  of  February,  A.  D.  1865.  The  robber 
band  on  this  night  was  composed  of  about  thirty  men. 
They  first  went  to  the  house  of  Mr.  Daniel  Baker,  who 
lived  about  two  miles  from  the  Red  Bank  bridge  across 
Lumber  River.  Here  (at  Baker's)  they  forced  their  way 
into  the  main  dwelling  and  at  once  commenced  their  di- 
abolical work,  taking  everything  of  value,  and  when 
they  could  not  get  keys  to  open  locks,  they  broke  them, 
bursting  open  trunks,  drawers,  &c.  Not  being  satisfied 
with  what  they  obtained  in  the  house,  they  proceeded 
to  the  smoke-house  and  helped  themselves  to  the  finest 
and  best  bacon  there.  They  then  hitched  up  Mr.  Baker's 
horse  up  his  buggy  they,  and  putting  their  plunder  in  the 
buggy  proceeded  up  the  road  about  four  miles  to  the  res- 
idence of  Mr.  McKay  Sellers.  At  Mr.  Sellers' they  enacted 
the  same,  taking  everything  in  his  house  of  value.  Here 
also  they  hitched  Mr.  Sellers'  horse  to  his  buggy,  placing 
their  plunder  in  the  buggy.  They  went  up  the  main  road  to 
Mr.  William  A.  Sellers,'   about  a  mile  off  (a  brother  of 


66  THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY. 

Mr.  McKay  Sellers).  Here  they  arrested  all  the  negroes 
on  the  premises,  and  demanded  Mr.  Sellers'  keys,  and 
put  him  also  under  arrest.  Some  delay  occurring  in  re- 
gard to  finding  all  the  keys,  they  proceeded  to  ransack 
the  house  of  Mr.  Sellers,  taking  everything  of  value, 
$800  in  Confederate  bonds  and  a  small  amount  of  specie. 
Piling  everything  in  front  of  the  dwelling,  they  divided 
the  plunder  among  themselves,  and  then  ordered  a  negro 
to  gear  up  a  pair  of  mules  to  Mr.  S3llers'  carriage  and  plac- 
ing everything  in  the  carriage,  they  drove  up  the  road  about 
half  a  mile  to  the  residence  of  Mrs.  Dr.  Neil  McNair,  at 
Argyle.  Acting  here  pretty  much  after  the  same  man- 
ner as  at  other  places,  they  ransacked  the  house,  taking  all 
the  valuables.  Here  they  were  fired  on  by  a  sick  Con- 
federate soldier.  They  returned  the  fire  and  acted  very 
roughly  to  the  inmates  of  the  house.  After  consultation 
here  among  themselves,  the  captain  of  the  band  ordered 
the  others  to  take  up  their  line  of  march  in  the  direction 
of  Scuffletown,  inasmuch  as  they  had  as  many  things  as 
they  could  carry  conveniently.  To  Scuffletown  they 
went.  About  sunrise  next  morning  the  vehicles  that 
were  taken  to  haul  off  their  plunder  were  brought  back 
by  the  negroes  that  were  forced  to  go  with  them. 

At  the  time  these  robberies  were  committed  the  Low- 
ries  were  not  "outlawed,"  and  in  all  probability  they 
were  led  and  instigated  by  some  Yankee  prisoners,  who 
had  escaped  from  Florence,  S.  C,  and  made  their  way 
into  Robeson  county,  N.  C.  Mr.  William  A.  Sellers  says 
that  this  robbery  broke  him  up,  and  did  him  more  real 
injury  than  Sherman's  army. 


THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY.  67 

THE  ROBBERY  OF  MR.  JOHN  PURNELL. 

In  the  year  1870,  on  the  21st  of  April,  H.  B.  Lowrie, 
Boss  Strong,  Andrew  Strong  and  George  Applewhite 
made  their  appearance  at  the  house  of  Mr.  John  Pur- 
nell,  about  sundown.  Here  they  took  the  gun  of  Mr. 
Purnell,  and  ordered  Mrs.  Purnell  to  prepare  supper 
for  them,  which  she  immediately  set  about  doing.  Af- 
ter they  had  partaken  of  a  bountiful  supper,  they  ran- 
sacked the  house,  and  took  everything  of  value,  and 
went  to  the  smoke-house  and  took  therefrom  about  fifteen 
hundred  pounds  of  meat,  together  with  other  things.  At 
last,  about  ten  o'clock  at  night,  they  started  off  with 
their  load  to  Scuffletown,  telling  Mrs.  Purnell  that  if  she 
or  Mr.  Purnell  would  tell  any  one  of  their  being  there 
they  would  come  back  and  kill  Mr.  Purnell.  Many 
other  robberies  were  committed  about  this  time,  such  as 
the  one  committed  on  Mr.  Peter  McFarland,  from  whom 
was  taken  one  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  in  currency; 
Mr.  Duncan  McNair's  smoke-house  of  seven  or  eight 
hundred  pounds  of  meat;  Mr.  J.  C.  McMillan's  smoke- 
house; Mr.  John  McCallum's;  Mr.  James  H.  McQueen's 
residence  of  all  its  valuables.  But  whether  or  not  the 
Lowrie  bandits  did  any  or  all  of  these  outrages  is  un- 
known, inasmuch  as  the  race  of  freedmen,  together  with 
the  tribe,  had  become  so  demoralized  that  it  is  now  a 
difficult  task  to  say  who  committed  this  or  that  robbery, 
for  they  sympathized  with  each  other  to  such  an  extent 
that  no  white  individual  knows,  nor  ever  will. 


68  THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY. 

ROBERT  McKENZIE,  ESQ. 

It  was  during  the  month  of  February,  1865,  that  they 
went  to  the  house  of  this  gentleman,  and  finding  all  the 
doors  closed  and  securely  fastened,  called  loudly  to  Mr. 
McK.  for  admittance.  He,  with  his  family  seated 
around  the  fireside,  gave  no  heed  to  their  demands; 
whereupon  they  burst  out  a  panel  of  the  door  and 
crowded  through  into  the  room.  They  acted  there  in 
the  roughest  manner,  going  from  room  to  room,  turning 
up  beds,  cutting  open  mattresses,  breaking  locks,  search- 
ing bureaus  and  trunks,  behaving  after  the  manner  of 
Sherman's  raiders.  Failing  to  find  money,  which  was 
the  object  of  their  search,  two  of  them  teized  Mr.  Mc- 
Kenzie,  placed  a  rope  around  his  neck,  and  told  him  if 
he  did  not  produce  it  they  would  hang  him.  He  told 
them  he  had  none.  They  went  out  and  consulted  with 
his  servants,  returned  and  in  a  furious  manner  renewed 
the  search,  failing  as  before  ;  held  another  consultation 
with  those  in  the  yard,  came  in  and  searched  more 
thoroughly,  with  a  like  result.  They  turned  to  Mrs  Mc- 
Kenzie  and  told  her  if  she  did  not  give  them  their  money 
they  would  hang  her  husband,  and  started  out  with  him 
for  this  purpose;  she  screamed  and  begged  them  to  spare 
his  life.  They  told  her  then  to  tell  them  where  the  silver 
was  concealed.  She  told  them  they  had  none,  all  the 
time  entreating  and  pleading  with  them,  as  only  a  wife 
can  plead  when  the  life  of  the  one  who  is  all  the  world 
to  her  is  at  stake.  Perhaps  it  was  her  agonizing  appeals 
that  touched  their  stony  hearts  and  caused  them  to  desist 
from  their  fiendish  purpose.  They,  too,  had  wives  and 
little  ones,  and  it  is  to  be  hoped  that,  notwithstanding 
their  crimes,  they  were  not   wholly  lost  to  the  influence 


3 

THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY.  £9 


of  home  affection.  After  releasing  Mr.  McKenzie  from 
custody,  they  took  his  watch  (a  fine  gold  one),  dishes, 
knives,  forks,  spoons,  clothing,  bed-clothing  and  every- 
thing of  value  that  they  could  carry. 

When  the  band  became  disorganized  from  the  killing 
of  their  leader,  the  Federal  prisoners  who  belonged  to 
the  band  made  their  escape  to  their  Northern  homes. 
On  their  way  to  Wilmington  one  of  them  was  conversing 
with  a  lady  on  the  train,  and  acknowledged  to  her  that 
he  had  been  with  the  robber  gang  in  Robeson  county, 
and,  as  a  proof  of  it,  showed  the  watch  of  Mr.  McKen- 
zie, which  he  had  in  his  possession. 

Allen  Lowrie  lived  in  less  than  a  mile  of  Mr.  McK., 
and  continued  to  annoy  him  in  almost  every  way  possi- 
ble, robbing  his  smoke-house,  gin,  pantry,  cutting  and 
spoiling  his  fruit  trees,  grape  arbors,  Sec.  He  finally 
moved  away  from  his  plantation  and  went  to  Florence, 
South  Carolina,  where  he  continued  to  reside  up  to  the 
time  of  his  death,  in  the  fall  of  1872.  A  brother  of  Mr. 
McKenzie  took  charge  of  his  plantation  in  Robeson,  and 
fared  but  little  better  so  far  as  robberies  were  concerned. 
They  were  driving  his  hogs  off  one  morning.  He  fol- 
lowed them.  They  told  him  to  ^o  back,  but  he  refused. 
They  turned  and  fired  on  him,  wounding  him  in  the  leg, 
which  disabled  him  for  some  time.  He  finally  left  the 
place  with  Mr.  Phipkin  in  charge.  They  did  not  trou- 
ble him  so  much,  but  he  frequently  met  them  around 
the  place,  and  they  were  several  times  at  his  house,  but 
offered  no  personal  injury.  At  one  time  H.  B.  Lowrie 
hung  his  canteen  of  brandy  on  the  fence  and  went  off, 
forgetting  it.  He,  however,  returned  in  a  few  days 
and  found  it  where  he  had  left,  it  but  being  very  cau- 
tious, and  knowing  that  he  justly  deserved  death  at  the 


70  THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY. 

hands  of  the  Robesonians,  concluded  that  his  brandy 
might  possibly  be  drugged.  He  called  on  Mr.  P.  to  take 
a  drink  before  he  would  touch  it.  Mr.  P.  told  him  it  was 
not  poisoned  unless  he  (H.  B.  L.)  had  done  it.  He  told 
him  he  had  not.  He  then  drank  some  thus  setting  the 
fears  of  the  outlaw  at  rest. 


MR.   DOUGALD  McCALLUM. 

Sometime  in  February,  1865,  the  family  of  Mr.  McCal- 
lum  were  very  much  startled  by  a  band  of  armed  men 
in  their  dwelling,  numbering  from  eighteen  to  twenty — 
four  white  men,  the  balance  Indians.  They  called  for 
supper,  which  was  prepared  and  set  for  them  in  the 
dining-room.  Before  calling  in  all  their  band  to  sup- 
per, those  that  were  in  the  house  lowered  the  curtains  of 
the  windows,  tucking  them  down  at  the  sides  in  order  to 
prevent  the  family  from  seeing  and  recognizing  the  Low- 
ries.  After  eating  their  supper  they  proceeded  to  search 
the  different  rooms  of  the  house  thoroughly,  throwing 
the  things  from  the  windows  to  the  party  on  the  outside. 
Here  they  robbed  the  ladies'  wardrobe,  an  act  that  they 
had  omitted  at  any  of  their  preceding  visits  at  other 
places.  The  sons  of  Mr.  McCallum  were  at  that  time 
in  the  army,  and  he  a  gray-headed  citizen,  the  sole  pro- 
tector of  his  wife  and  two  daughters.  They  took  his 
clothing,  guns,  and  seven  hundred  dollars  in  Confeder- 
ate money,  which  was  almost  valueless,  it  being  a  short 
time  before  the  surrender.  A  lot  of  clothing,  bed-cloth- 
ing and  a  purse  of  silver  comprised  the  balance  of  their 
booty  on  this  occasion.  They  had  a  quarrel  over  the 
silver  in  the  yard  before  leaving.  After  their  search 
was    completed    they    prepared  to  convey    away  their 


THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY.  71 

gains  by  going  to  the  horse-lot  and  harnessing  two  horses 
to  separate  buggies,  and  removed  the  things  to  some 
place  of  deposit,  and  continued  their  raid  by  visiting  the 
houses  of  Messrs.  John  McCallum  and  Robert  Graham. 


MR.   JOHN  McCALLUM. 

They  reached  this  place  about  11  o'clock.  Mr.  Mc- 
Callum and  his  niece  were  the  only  white  people  on  the 
premises,  and  the  first  intimation  they  had  of  the  pres- 
ence of  this  marauding  party  was  the  report  of  a  pistol 
on  the  front  piazza  of  their  dwelling.  The  yard  dog  felt 
the  effects  of  this,  as  he  was  found  dead  the  next  morn- 
ing on  the  piazza.  They  called  loudly  to  Mr.  McCallum 
to  open  the  door,  threatening  him  in  a  rough  manner; 
he  very  reluctantly  admitted  them,  abovit  thirty  in  num- 
ber, as  near  as  he  could  guess.  They  stationed  a  guard 
at  every  door,  and  the  parlor  was  crowded  with  them. 
The  white  men  told  Mr.  McC.  that  they  were  escaped  Fed- 
eral prisoners.  They  would  only  allow  adim  light,  and 
when  that  would  chance  to  fall  on  their  faces,  they  would 
immediately  drop  their  blankets  over  them.  They  were 
very  profane,  and  showed  no  respect  for  age  or  sex.  They 
thoroughly  searched  the  house,  upper  and  lower  story, 
emptied  all  the  bureaus  and  trunks,  taking  every  key  on  the 
place.  They  didnot  leave  a  change  of  wearing  apparel,  and 
scarcely  any  bed-clothing.  Two  guns,  and  nearly  ev- 
erything else  of  value  that  could  be  carried  off  conveni- 
ently, were  taken.      After  they  completed   their  search 


72  THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY. 

a  few  of  the  party  went  down  to  Mr.  Robert  Graham's, 
taking  a  horse  and  buggy,  with  one  of  the  negroes  to  drive 
it,  and  the  balance  remained    there   until    their    return. 
They  came  back  before  day  and  demanded  of  Mr.  Mc- 
Callum  his   money  and  brandy.      He  told  them  that  he 
did  not  have  any;  whereupon,  they  cursed  and  threat- 
ened to  kill  him  if  he  did  not  produce  it.      They  com- 
pelled him  to  accompany  them  to  his  gin-house,  taking 
with  them  a  lighted  candle  to  search  in  the  cotton  for  it. 
They  would  make  him  dig  down  in  the  cotton  while  they 
stood  sticking  the  burning  candle  to  it.      He  begged  them 
not  to  burn  it,  and  kept  trying  to  assure  them  that  he 
had  neither  money  nor  brandy.       The   negro  boy   who 
had  accompanied  the  party  to  Mr.  Graham's  told  them 
that  his  master  had  something  concealed  in  his  gin-house 
and   he  thought  it  money  and  brandy;  for  this    reason 
they  renewed  the  search  on  their  return.      Meeting  with 
no  success,  and  it  then  being  nearly  daylight,   they  took 
their  departure,  still  retaining  the  negro,  horse  and  bug- 
gy in  their  service.      The  boy  returned  in  a  few  hours, 
but  was  too  much  intoxicated  to  tell  anything  about  it. 

Mr.  John  Purcell  lived  about  a  half  mile  from  Mr. 
McCallum's,  on  their  direct  route  home,  and  in  passing 
there  T.  C.  Bridgers  was  standing  on  the  piazza,  and 
they  saluted  him  by  firing  a  pistol  into  the  house,  the 
ball  passing  just  over  his  head.  They  never  at  any  time 
entered  the  dwelling  of  Mr.  Purcell,  but  his  gin,  store 
and  smoke-house  were  robbed  several  times  by  the  gang. 
They  were  'often  seen  in  the  day  lurking  arounnd  his 
plantation.  Mr.  P.,  in  the  spring  of  1862,  came  upon 
Steve  Lowrie  asleep  in  the  corner  of  the  fence,  with  his 
gun  standing  a  short  distance  from  him.  This  was  near  the 
house  of  a  family  of  Indians,    who  were  Mr.    Purcell's 


THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY.  73 

tenants.  Steve,  no  doubt,  was  waiting  for  his  breakfast, 
as  the  family  were  known  to  not  only  cook  and  wash  for 
him,  but  also  to  give  the  band  all  the  information  they 
could  gather.  They  were  near  relatives  of  the  Strongs 
and  Lowries.  The  same  day  that  Mr.  Purcell  saw 
Steve  Lowrie,  he,  with  Andrew  Strong,  went  to  the 
house  of  Mr.  Henry  McCallum,  a  son  of  Mr.  John  Mc~ 
Callum,  and  took  his  gun  and  watch.  Mrs.  McCallum 
asked  them  to  give  her  the  watch,  and  they  did  it. 

Thus  for  years  they  continued  to  roam  the  country, 
day  and  night,  plundering,  dropping  in  here  and  there 
when  least  expected.  The  citizens  were  afraid  to  let 
more  than  one  or  two  at  a  time  into  a  plan  to  capture 
them;  the  friends  of  the  gang  were  so  numerous,  scat- 
tered throughout  the  country,  that  it  was  impossible  to 
make  a  move  without  their  becoming  apprised  of  it. 
Their  friends  were  as  loud  in  denunciation  of  them  as 
their  enemies;  for  this  reason  it  was  impossible  in  many 
cases  to  discover  between  the  two. 


MR.   ROBERT  GRAHAM. 

When  the  party,  fifteen  or  twenty  in  number,  which  left 
Mr.  McCallum's  for  Mr.  Graham's,  reached  there  it  was 
between  twelve  and  four  o'clock  in  the  morning.  They 
immediately  posted  sentinels  in  and  around  the  yard,  and 
on  every  road  leading  to  the  house,  with  instructions  to  al- 
low no  one  to  pass  in,  out,  or  advance  from  any  direc- 
tion. These  warlike  orders  were  issued  and  obeyed 
with  promptness.  Some  of  the  band  -three  whites,  the 
other  Indians-  rushed  into  the  piazza  of  the  dwelling, 
and  with  loud  oaths  and  threats  demanded  admittance. 


74  THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY. 

None  of  the  family  were  at  home  except  Mr.  Graham 
and  his  daughter.  He  went  to  the  door  and  asked  who 
it  was  and  what  they  wanted.  They  replied  with  hor- 
rid oaths  for  him  to  open  the  door,  saying  if  he  did  not 
they  would  set  fire  to  his  house.  Hearing  this  awful 
threat,  he  opened  the  door;  they  went  in,  at  once  mak- 
ing him  prisoner,  at  the  same  time  demanding  his  guns, 
ammunition,  and  every  key  on  the  place.  This  demand 
was  made  by  a  white  man,  who  termed  himself  Captain. 
After  getting  the  guns  and  keys  in  possession,  they 
lighted  their  candles,  with  which  they  seemed  to  be  well 
supplied,  and  proceeded  to  plunder  and  ransack  the  house 
of  many  valuables.  In  this  they  seemed  to  be  well  dis- 
ciplined, as  they  would  take  according  to  rank,  viz: 
Captain,  first  of  the  most  valuable  articles,  and  so  on. 
The  three  white  men,  being  all  officers,  had  the  best  of 
the  spoils,  consisting  of  money  to  the  amount  of  two 
thousand  dollars,  a  purse  of  silver,  a  watch  which  Mr. 
Graham  prized  very  highly,  having  worn  it  from  boy- 
hood, several  pieces  of  jewelry  belonging  to  different 
members  of  the  family,  and  also  the  rings  from  Miss 
Graham's  fingers.  The  privates  all  being  well  supplied 
with  large  bags  and  haversacks,  took  wearing  apparel 
of  every  description,  bed-clothing,  boots,  shoes,  hats,  &c. 
After  they  had  completed  their  search  they  ordered  sup- 
per to  be  prepared  immediately,  with  directions  how 
and  what  to  prepare;  they  then  ordered  Mr.  Graham 
and  his  daughter  to  take  seats  in  the  parlor  for  their  en- 
tertainment. None  were  allowed  to  enter  except  the 
officers,  the  privates  being  left  out  in  the  cold,  who,  by 
the  way,  seemed  highly  elated  over  the  spoils  they  had 
captured.  After  some  time  spent  in  asking  Mr.  Graham 
(the  old  man,  as  they  called  him)  many  questions  about 


THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY.  75 

his  sons  in  the  army,  war  matters  and  the  "rebs"  gener- 
ally, they  told  him  that  he  or  his  daughter  had  to  go 
with  them  as  prisoners  of  war.  This  they  possitively 
refued  to  hear,  when  some  of  the  officers  proposed  to 
take  them  by  force,  and  put  a  handkerchief  around  Miss 
Graham's  neck  for  this  purpose,  when  the  Captain  with 
a  millitary  air,  ordered  that  no  violence  should  be 
used.  To  this  they  quietly  yielded.  Finding  that  their 
time  (night)  was  limited,  they  issued  orders  to  prepare 
to  leave,  not  waiting  for  supper,  as  they  had  counter- 
manded their  orders  to  have  it  prepared.  This  was 
supposed  to  have  been  done  for  fear  that  some  of  the 
servants  would  recognize  their  colored  soldiery,  which 
was  afterwards  found  to  be  true. 

On  leaving  they  went  to  the  smoke-house  and  helped 
themselves  to  the  largest  bacon  hams  they  could  find. 
Here  the  Captain  again  interfered,  saying:  "Boys,  we 
have  done  enough  here,  let  us  go."  They  took  one  or 
two  hams,  and  said  they  would  be  back  in  a  few  nights 
for  a  large  supply  of  bacon  and  corn.  They  made  ready 
to  leave,  which  was  to  Mr.  Graham  the  most  agreeable 
part  of  their  night's  proceedings.  In  bidding  them  good 
night,  the  Captain  handed  Mr.  Graham  one  of  his  guns, 
first  discharging  it,  then  breaking  the  rammer  and 
throwing  the  flint  away,  saying:  "Take  this  old  man, 
it  will  do  to  shoot  the  robbers  with;  they  are  becoming 
very  troublesome  these  war  times,  and  everybody  should 
be  prepared  for  them."  After  this  piece  of  advice,  they 
left  for  headquarters,  then  in  Back  Swamp. 


CALVIN  OXENDINE. 
On  evidence  of  John  Dial,    a   member  of    the    robber 


76  THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY. 

clan,  but  who  turned  State's  evidence  against  the  clan, 
Calvin  was  arrested  and  lodged  in  "Wilmington  jail  with 
Steve  Lowrie  and  George  Applewhite,  as  one  of  their 
number,  at  the  time  of  the  robbery  and  murder  of  ex- 
Sheriff  King.  Calvin  refused  to  leave  jail  with  them  at 
the  time  of  their  escape,  alleging  afterwards  as  his  rea- 
son, that  he  was  innocent  and  would  be  proven  so  on 
trial.  He  being  cousin  to  the  outlaws,  did  not  believe 
that  he  could  get  a  fair  trial  in  Robeson,  his  native  coun- 
ty, where  all  their  bloody  scenes  were  enacted;  it  was 
therefore  removed  to  Southport,  in  Brunswick  county, 
where  he  proved  an  alibi  by  a  gentleman  from  Rich- 
mond county,  in  whose  employ  he  had  been,  and  was  at 
the  time  of  the  said  robbery  and  murder.  He  also 
proved  by  the  same  gentleman  so  good  a  character  for 
honest  industry  thattheevidence  of  the  notorious  Dial  was 
discredited  by  the  jury,  and  consequently  a  verdict  of 
"not  guilty"  was  rendered,  and  he  was  acquitted. 

He  was  brother  to  Henderson  Oxednine,  the  only  out- 
law that  died  on  the  gallows. 


MR.  DANIEL  BAKER  SHOT. 

On  November  18th,  1866,  (Monday  night)  the  Lowrie 
bandits  visited  the  house  of  Mr.  Daniel  Baker,  who  re- 
sided about  two  miles  from  Red  Banks  Bridge  across 
Lumber  river.  Here  they  commenced  plundering,  tak- 
ing cotton  from  his  cotton  house,  &c.  Mr.  Baker  dis- 
covering them,  ordered  them  away,  whereupon  they 
fired  on  him,  shattering  the  bones  in  his  right  leg  so  ter- 
ribly that  amputation  had  to  be  resorted  to  in  order  to 
to     save      his    life,     which    was     successfully    accom- 


THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY.  77 

plished  soon  after  the  occurrence  by  Dr.  W.  D.  McCal- 
lum,  the  family  physician.  Now  this  act  of  the  Lowrie 
bandits  was  nothing  more  nor  less  than  wanton  cruelty, 
inasmuch  as  Mr.  Baker  was  their  neighbor  and  friend. 
A.  more  industrious,  hard-working,  clever  and  kind- 
hearted  man  could  not  be  found  in  the  county  than  was 
Mr.  Daniel  Baker,  yet  this  act  of  the  Lowrie  bandits 
made  him  a  cripple  for  life,  and  hastened  doubtless  his 
earthly  career,  for  he  suffered  much  pain  ever  after- 
wards until  death  released  him  from  his  sufferings. 


MR.   ANGUS  S.   BAKER. 

On  the  1st  of  November,  1871,  the  Lowrie  robbers 
went  into  the  residence  of  Mr.  Angus  S.  Baker,  broke 
to  his  house  about  9  o'clock  p.  m.,  arrested  Mr.  Baker 
and  wife,  and  ransacked  the  house,  taking  beds,  bed- 
ding, blankets  and  wearing  apparel,  in  short,  everything 
of  value  they  could  find,  and  left  about  2  o'clock  a.  m., 
with  their  plundei,  for  Scuffletown. 


MR.   MALLOY  McPHAUL. 

In  the  year  1868,  the  robber  clan  would  sometimes 
employ  artifice  to  gain  access  into  dwellings  to  obtain 
such  articles  of  food  or  clothing  as  they  deemed  neces- 
sary. As  an  instance  of  their  cunning  I  give  the  fol- 
lowing particulars  of  a  visit  by  them  to  Mr.  McPhaul's  : 
A  white  man,  appearing  to  be  a  traveler,  called  at  his 
house  and  told  him  he  was  from  "Whiteville,  (the  coun- 
ty-seat of  an  adjoining  county,  where  a  brother  of  Mr. 
McPhaul  resided);  that  his  brother  was  at  the  point  of 


78  THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY. 

death,  and   desired  him  to  go   down   immediately  if  he 
wished  to  see  him  alive.     Mr.  McPhaul  made  arrange- 
ments to  take  the  first  train  ;  arriving  at  his  brother's, 
what  was  his  sin-prise  at  finding  him  in  excellent  health; 
he  at  once  understood  the  ruse  that  had  been  employed 
at  his  expense;  with  a  nrnd  filled  with    dread    forebod- 
ings and  distracting  fear,  not  knowing  to  "what  indignity 
his  family  had  b2en  subjected,  he  hastened  back  home. 
He  was,  however,  much  relieved  to   find    them   unhurt, 
although  the  robbers  had    been    there    in    his  absence. 
After  he  was  fairly  on  his  way  to  his  brother's  a  party 
of  three  men  went  to  his  house  and  demanded  the  keys 
of  the  smoke  house  of  his  wife,  which  she  refused  to  give 
them,  but  offered  to  unlock  the  door  for  th-em,  to   which 
they  consented.      They    took    bacon    and  other  articles 
of  food,  then  left  without  further  molestation. 


THE  MURDER  OF  EX-SHERIFF  REUSEN  KING. 

On  the  night  of  the  23rd  of  January,  1869,  the  quiet 
little  village  of  Lumberton,  in  Robeson  county,  was 
thrown  into  consternation  by  the  startling  intelligence 
that  Sheriff  Reuben  King  had  been  shot  in  his  own  house 
(one  and  one-half  miles  from  Lumberton)  by  the  Low- 
rie  gang,  afterwards  known  as  the  outlaws.  The  gang 
at  this  time  was  composed  of  Stephen,  Thomas  and 
Henry  Berry  Lowrie,  Andrew  and  Boss  Strong,  George 
Applewhite,  Shoemaker  John,  William  Chavis,  Hender- 
son and  Calvin  Oxendine,  Zack  McLauchlin  and  John 
Dial. 

They  had  been  concealed  near  the  house  all  day, 
watching  for  Sheriff  King.      Late  in  the  afternoon  King 


THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY.  79 

returned  from  the  village,  and  while  seated  at  his  fire- 
side, part  of  the  band  entered  his  house  with  the  inten- 
tion (it  is  supposed)  of  robbing  the  Sheriff.  Henry  Ber- 
ry, who  led  the  van,  approached  him  with  his  gun  pre- 
sented, and  demanded  of  the  Sheriff  his  money.  Had 
he  complied  with  the  bandit's  demand,  his  life  would 
probably  have  been  spared;  but  King  instantly  sprang 
up  and  seized  the  gun  of  the  robber  chief,  and  refused 
to  give  up  his  money.  It  has  been  admitted  that  the 
intention  of  the  gang  was  merely  to  get  money,  and  not 
to  kill  the  Sheriff.  The  impression  was  that  he  had  a 
large  amount  of  money  on  his  person  or  in  his  house, 
but  they  were  sadly  disappointed,  as  will  be  shown 
hereafter. 

In  the  scuffle  that  ensued  between  the  robber  chief- 
tain and  the  Sheriff,  the  gun  was  discharged,  the  con- 
tents passing  through  the  floor.  George  Applewhite, 
who  was  standing  on  the  piazza,  near  the  door,  rushed 
to  the  rescue  of  his  comrade  by  firing  a  navy  revolver 
at  King,  the  ball  taking  effect  in  his  back,  under  the  right 
shoulder  blade,  lodging  in  the  lung.  Mr.  S.  E.  Ward, 
a  neighbor,  was  on  a  visit  to  the  family  for  the  night, 
and  at  the  time  the  shooting  occurred,  was  sitting  by  the 
fire  near  a  table.  He  arose  from  his  seat  and  raised  his 
arm,  when  John  Dial  fired  at  him,  the  load  of  shot  tak- 
ing effect  in  his  arm  and  side,  inflicting  a  very  painful, 
though  not  dangerous  wound.  They  then  proceeded 
to  search  the  house;  breaking  open  trunks,  drawers,  &o, 
carrying  off  a  large  quantity  of  wearing  apperal,  bed- 
clothing  and  other  articles,  many  of  which  were  after- 
wards found  in  George  Applewhite's  house  and  identi- 
fied as  those  taken  the  night  of  the  wounding  of  the 
Sheriff.      Some  of  the  bed  clothing  was  produced  as  evi- 


80  THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY. 

dence  in  the  subsequent  trial  of  the  parties  for  the  mur- 
der of  Sheriff  King,  and  indeed  was  one  of  the  strongest 
links  in  the  evidence  against  them.  The  robbers  had 
disguised  themselves  by  blacking  their  faces,  &c,  and 
consequently  escaped  detection  by  the  family  or  Mr.  W. 
Taking  advantage  of  the  confusion  and  fright  their  ap- 
pearance and  outrages  had  occasioned,  they  made  well 
their  escape. 

Physicians  were  immediately  summoned,  who  care- 
fully examined  the  wounded  men,  and  pronounced  Mr. 
Ward's  case  not  at  all  serious,  but  not  so  Sheriff  King's. 
The  deadly  weapon  in  the  hands  of  the  fell  assassin  had 
made  sure  its  aim  and  entered  a  vital  part.  The 
wounds  of  the  Sheriff  were  found  to  be  mortal.  With 
blanched  cheeks  and  agonized  hearts,  relatives  and 
and  friends  received  this  decision  of  the  physicians.  The 
fiat  had  gone  forth —Sheriff  King  must  die;  he  would 
Jive  a  month,  perhaps  six  weeks.  He  lingered  seven 
weeks  and  died,  such  a  death!  —  by  the  hands  of  a 
band  of  desperadoes,  in  the  midst  of  his  family,  and  at 
his  own  hearth.  Ah!  methinks  if  there  is  punishment 
greater  meted  out  to  one  than  to  another,  it  will  certainly 
be  inflicted  on  those  midnight  assasins  who  committed 
crimes  of  the  blackest  dye. 

Every  effort  was  made  to  capture  the  murderers,  but 
without  success.  The  dense  swamps  of  Robeson  county 
(impenetrable  to  all  save  the  outlav/s)  afforded  them 
protection  from  justice  for  some  time.  After  a  while, 
however,  Henry  Berry  Lowrie  was  prevailed  upon  to 
surrender  to  Sheriff  Howell  and  Dr.  Thomas,  Agent  of 
the  Freedmen's  Bureau.  John  Dial  was  arrested  by 
Deputy  Sheriff  McDonald.      George  Applewhite  was  ar- 


THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY.  81 

rested  at  Red  Banks;  Shoemaker  John  was  also  ar- 
rested, and  Dial  became  State's  evidence  in  the  murder 
of  ex-Sheriff  King.  Stephen  Lowrie,  Calvin  and  Hen- 
derson Oxendine  were  also  arrested  and  confined  in  Wil- 
mington jail,  tried,  convicted  ancl  sentenced  to  be 
hanged;  but  an  appeal  was  taken  to  the  Supreme  Court. 
As  is  often  the  case,  before  the  decision  of  said  appeal, 
Henry  Berry  and  Steve  Lowrie,  George  Applewhite, 
Henderson  and  Calvin  Oxendine  effected  an  escape 
from  jail  and  took  up  their  abode  in  the  swamps  of  Robe- 
son county — thence  arose  the  band  of  outlaws.  Their 
escape  from  the  Wilmington  jail  is,  and  ever  will  remain, 
enveloped  in  mystery  to  those  outside  of  the  parties  who 
aided  and  abetted  them.  The  jail,  it  must  be  remem- 
bered, was  a  very  strong  one,  closely  guarded,  and  the 
jailer  residing  within  its  walls,  though  this  is  only  one 
of  the  many   mysteries  connected   with  the  proceedings 

of  the  "Lowrie  Band." 

After  Sheriff  King  was  wounded  he  removed  his  mon- 
ey from  his  pocket,  placing  it  under  the  collar  of  his 
coat,  to  prevent  the  robbers  from  getting  it.  He  was 
detected  in  the  act  by  one  of  the  robbers,  and  they  suc- 
ceeded in  getting  about  $155  in  currency  and  $20  in 
gold.  At  the  time  they  were  searching  the  house,  the 
Sheriff  was  lying  in  the  door  beseeching  some  one  to 
give  him  water.  The  family  had  left  the  premises 
through  fright,  and  not  one  of  that  merciless  band  would 
gratify  his  request,  but  heaped  curses  and  abuses  on 
him,  telling  him  that  he  ought  to  have  died  long  ago,  &c. 


HENRY  BULLOCK,   SR. 

In  May,  1869,  early  in  the  evening,  Mr.   Bullock  was 
surprised  by    several  men  disguised  as  negroes  coming 


82  THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY. 

into  his  field  where  he  was  superintending  his  farm 
hands.  He  was  an  aged  veteran  of  the  war  of  1812, 
and  though  he  was  ninety-five  years  of  age  at  the  time 
of  their  visit,  was  able  to  attend  to  his  farm.  One  of 
the  clan  walked  up  to  the  old  man,  and,  notwithstanding 
his  age  and  feebleness,  jerked  him  around,  ordering  him 
to  go  to  the  house  and  give  them  his  money.  He  told  them 
he  had  no  money,  but  could  go  to  the  house  with  them. 
On  their  way  they  had  to  cross  a  fence,  but  did  not  al- 
low the  decrepit  old  man  to  get  over  the  fence,  but 
pushed  him  over.  When  they  got  to  the  house  they  or- 
dered the  old  gentleman  and  his  wife  to  go  in,  and  left 
his  laborers  under  guard  in  the  yard.  They  arrested  all 
who  chanced  to  pass  the  house  while  they  were  there, 
and  kept  them  under  guard  until  they  left  In  their 
search  they  found  thirty  dollars  ($30)  in  specie  belong- 
ing to  Mrs.  Bullock,  which  they  appropriated.  They 
carried  off  all  of  his  valuable  papers,  clothing,  bed- 
clothing  and  provisions  to  a  large  amount.  They  found 
a  jug  of  brandy  in  the  house,  and  before  they  would 
drink  any  themselves,  compelled  the  old  lady  to  drink  a 
glass  of  it  pure.  They,  no  doubt,  thought  it  was  drugged, 
and  used  this  precaution  to  ascertain.  They  cursed  the 
old  people  in  a  shocking  manner.  You,  reader,  can  pic- 
ture in  your  own  imagination,  after  reading  this  one 
short  sketch,  the  character  of  the  gang  with  whom  the 
people  of  Robeson  had  to  contend.  Age  and  decrepi- 
tude could  claim  no  mercy  at  their  hands,  but  regardless 
of  all — reckless  of  all  save  their  own  inordinate  love  of 
plunder,  they  rose  up,  sometimes  in  one  place  to-day, 
ten  miles  hence  to-morrow,  casting  a  shadow,  throwing 
a  gloom  around  many  a  hearth-stone  in  a  large  portion 
of  Robeson. 


THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY,  83 

MR.  DAVID  McKELLAR. 

In  May,  1869,  the  robber  clan  visited  the  house  of  Mr. 
McKellar,  in  his  absence,  and  took  three  hundred  and 
fifty  dollars  ($350)  and  some  clothing. 


MR.   M.   K.   GRIFFIN. 

This  was  the  next  house  they  visited  in  that  neighbor- 
hood; they  were  also  in  disguise,  and  armed  with  dou- 
ble-barreled guns.  They  rushed  into  the  yard  with  guns 
presented,  and  took  Mr.  Griffin  prisoner,  at  once  de- 
manding his  money,  cursing  and  using  very  abusive 
language  towards  him.  There  were  only  three  at  his 
house;  they  searched  his  person,  placed  one  of  their 
number  to  guard  him,  while  the  other  two  proceeded  to 
search  the  house.  They  took  all  of  his  and  his  wife's 
most  valuable  clothing  and  his  gun;  they  afterwards 
threw  the  gun  into  the  garden  and  left  it.  They  inquired 
of  Mr.  G.  about  his  neighbors,  the  number  of  men  about 
the  different  houses,  their  strength  of  arms,  &c.  "When 
they  started  off,  they  turned  to  Mr.  G.  with  an  oath,  and 
told  him  to  stay  at  home  that  night,  or  they  would  see 
him  again  if  he  did  not.  The  wife  of  Mr.  Griffin  was  so 
badly  frightened  that  she  never  recovered  from  the  ef- 
fects of  it. 


MR.   GEORGE  WILLIAMS. 

In  the  year  A.  D.  1869,  the  robber  gang  went  to  Mr. 
Geo.  "Williams'  and  broke  a  door  down  that  was  on  the 
front  side  of  the  house,  and  fired  at  one  of  his  sons,  but 
did  not  hit  him.      The  family  fled,  and  left  the  house  and 


84  THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY. 

its  contents  in  their  hands;  they,  however,  took  nothing 
off.  The  firing  at  young  Mr.  Williams  seemed  to  have 
been  merely  venting  their  ire  on  account  of  some  old 
grudge. 


MR.   WILLIAM  C.  McNEILL. 

Among  the  many  families  harassed  by  the  "Lowiie 
Band"  there  were  few  that  suffered  to  the  same  extent 
as  Mr.  W.  C.  McNeill,  one  of  Robeson's  most  quiet,  inof- 
fensive and  law-abiding  citizens.  Living  as  he  did  on 
the  very  borders  of  their  settlement,  he  was  more  fre- 
quently subjected  to  their  insults  and  depredations  than 
those  more  distant,  and  being  also  a  well-fo-do  farmer, 
his  larder  and  farm-yard  possessed  for  them  great  at- 
tractions. Mr.  McNeill  had  also  incurred  their  marked 
displeasure  by  freely  expressing  his  opinion,  and  treating 
with  the  utmost  contempt  this  band  and  all  that  he  knew 
to  be  its  friends. 

Their  first  visit  to  his  house  was  in  1869,  at  which 
time  they  entered  his  pantry  and  dining-room,  relieving 
them  of  all  available  articles  and  eatables,  which  was  to 
Mr.  McNeill  and  family  a  considerable  loss.  This  act  of 
lawlessness  supplied  their  homes  with  many  useful  arti- 
cles, and  themselves  with  many  necessaries  and  luxuries. 

In  the  early  part  of  1870  they  again  entered  his  din- 
ing-room (which  had  been  refurnished)  and  stripped  it  as 
before  of  every  available  article.  On  this  visit  they  at- 
tempted an  entrance  to  his  smoke-house  by  digging  un- 
derneath it  aud  trying  to  open  it  with  false  keys  (having 
a  goodly  number  of  them),  but  failing  to  effect  an  en- 
trance here,  they  quietly  left,  no  doubt  to  attempt  it 
somewhere  else. 


THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY.  85 

One  night  in  1862,  Mr.  McNeill  was  out  walking  in  his 
lane.  Hearing  footsteps  in  the  direction  of  his  barn,  and 
suspecting  who  they  were,  he  hastily  concealed  himself 
in  order  to  learn  their  intentions;  immediately  one  man 
walked  to  the  barn  and^endeavored  to  open  it.  Mr.  Mc- 
Neill called  out  twice  to  know  who  they  were;  receiving 
no  answer,  he  told  them  if  they  did  not  leave,  he  would 
force  them  to;  one  answered,  "Do  you  know  to  whom 
you  are  talking?"  Recognizing  the  voice,  he  made  no 
reply,  but  returned  to  the  house,  took  his  gun,  and  again 
went  out;  they  in  the  meantime  had  left  the  barn  and 
repaired  to  a  corner  of  the  fence  nearer  the  house;  as 
Mr.  McNeill  walked  out  they  halted  him;  he  again  asked 
"Who  are  you?"  One,  with  an  oath,  cried  out,  "It  is 
Lowrie." 

Mr.  McNeill  at  once  commenced  retracing  his  steps 
into  the  house,  when  they  fired  at  him;  the  contents  of 
the  gun  passed  him,  lodging  in  the  breast  of  his  beauti- 
ful daughter  and  accomplished  wife,  inflicting  painful 
though  not  dangerous  wounds.  Mrs.  McNeill  and  her 
daughter  were  standing  on  the  piazza  anxiously  watch- 
ing the  husband  and  father  when  the  shot  was  fired. 
On  the  following  day  Henry  Berry  Lowrie  visited  Moss 
Neck,  a  depot  on  the  Carolina  Central  Railway,  and 
within  a  few  hundred  yards  of  Mr.  McNeill's  residence; 
he  denied  all  knowledge  of  the  shooting,  and  expressed 
great  indignation  at  the  guilty  parties  for  having  shot 
two  ladies;  he  sent  for  Mr.  McNeill  to  go  to  the  depot; 
he  wanted  to  tell  him  that  he  did  not  do  it,  but  he  (Mr. 
McNeill)  refused  to  see  or  to  have  anything  to  say  to 
him. 

On  the  next  day  he  again  visited  Moss  Neck,  and  was 
under  the  influence  of    liquor;   he  seemed  to   be  excited, 


86  THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY. 

and  several  times  asserted  that  he  did  shoot  at  Mr.  Mc- 
Neill and  tried  his  best  to  kill  him. 

Their  visits  to  this  family  did  not  cease;  frequently 
they  made  raids  on  their  fowl-house,  helping  themselves 
lavishly  to  all  it  contained.  On  their  return  from  one 
of  these  raids  they  called  at  Mr.  Dougald  McCormick's, 
passing  themselves  for  a  squad  of  men  in  search  of  the 
outlaws,  and  requested  him  to  accompany  them;  he, 
not  being  satisfied  as  to  their  identity,  made  some  ex- 
cuse to  remain  at  home;  they  then  gave  him  a  bucket, 
demanding  some  flour;  he  gave  them  some,  and  they 
went  off,  making  no  further  demands. 


THE  MURDER  OF  MR.  O.  C.  NORMENT. 

On  the  night  of  the  19th  of  March,  A.  D.  1870,  a 
quarter  to  9  o'clock,  Mr.  Norment  was  shot  in  his  yard, 
only  a  few  feet  from  the  door.  The  party  who  com- 
mitted this  deed  had  stationed  themselves  at  each  cor- 
ner of  the  house,  and  had  entered  the  yard  by  taking 
down  the  palings  of  the  enclosure,  just  large  enough  for 
one  man  to  crawl  through  at  a  time.  I  suppose  the  fam- 
ily would  have  heard  the  noise  of  the  drawing  out  of  the 
palings  had  it  not  been  for  the  noise  of  the  children 
frolicking  with  their  father  at  the  time.  Circumstances 
seemed  to  favor  them  on  this  occasion.  With  the  laugh- 
ter of  innocence  ringing  in  their  ears,  they  took  their 
positions  to  commit  the  deed  so  horrible  to  relate.  Mr.  Nor- 
ment was  in  the  habit  of  putting  his  children  to  sleep  by 
telling  them  little  nursery  stories,  and  took  them  to  the  bed 
nearest  the  murderer  for  this  purpose,  little  thinking  so 
soon  his  home   would  be  made  desolate,  and  the  place 


THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY.  87 

desecrated,  yet  made  memorable  to  his  stricken  family 
by  the  life-blood  of  the  husband  and  father.  The  fiend 
who  stood  there  and  listened  to  the  merry  laughter  and 
innocent  prattle  of  his  little  ones,  with  the  dark  purpose 
in  his  heart  of  taking  from  them  their  kind  and  loving 
father  in  so  cruel  a  manner,  must  have  had  a  heart  of 
adamant,  or  he  would  have  yielded  to  the  gentle  influ- 
ence, and  turned  from  so  bad  a  design.  But  no;  he  stood 
there  nursing  the  resolve  that  would  blacken  his  soul 
with  crime,  and  doom  him  to  a  punishment  as  only  such 
criminals  merit  at  the  hands  of  an  avenging  God.  Af- 
ter the  children  were  quietly  shtmbering,  he  arose  and 
took  a  seat  by  the  fire,  conversing  for  a  short  time,  when 
he  remarked  to  his  wife,  in  a  low  tone,  that  he  heard  a 
noise.  She  replied  that  she  had  dropped  a  hair-pin  on 
the  hearth,  and  supposed  that  was  the  noise  he  heard. 
He  said  no,  it  was  not  that,  but  expressed  no  uneasi- 
ness. In  a  short  time  he  opened  the  door  and  stepped 
out,  leaving  it  open.  His  wife  was  looking  out  at  the 
door  and  saw  the  flash  of  the  gun  pass.  Simultaneously 
he  groaned,  and  she  sprang  to  the  door  screaming;  she 
has  no  recollection  of  hearing  the  report  of  the  gun.  When 
she  saw  the  flash  of  the  gun,  she  comprehended  in  an 
instant  the  situation  of  her  husband,  but  thought  that  he 
had  been  shot  down  in  the  yard,  and  her  intention  was 
to  get  to  him;  but  he  had  not  fallen.  After  going  into 
the  yard  he  thought  he  heard  a  footstep,  and  turned  to 
go  in  the  house,  when  they  fired;  he  leaped  to  the  door, 
where  he  was  met  by  his  wife  just  in  the  act  of  falling, 
when  she  caught  and  pulled  him  into  the  house.  He 
whispered  to  her  to  close  and  fasten  the  door,  and  hand 
him  his  rifle,  as  they  might  attempt  to  enter  and  com- 
plete their    bloody  work.     She  did  as  he  desired,   and 


88  THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY. 

kneeling  by  him,  supported  him,  in  order  that  he  might 
have  both  hands  in  the  use  of  his  gun,  and  in  case  they 
entered,  he  might  at  least  kill  one.  She  continued 
screaming  until  her  father  (Mr.  J.  D.  Bridgers),  with  sev- 
eral members  of  his  family,  got  there.  On  getting  to  the 
door  and  finding  it  fastened,  they  called  to  her  to  open 
it.  Knowing  her  support  was  necessary  to  the  comfort 
of  her  husband,  she  replied  she  could  not;  whereupon, 
they  burst  it  open  and  rushed  in,  finding  them  in  the  situ- 
ation described.  They  at  once  inquired  of  Mr.  Nor- 
ment  how  he  did  it,  thinking  he  accidentally  wounded 
himself.  He  soon  explained.  Mr.  J.  D.  Bridgers  and 
his  son,  John  Bridgers,  started  in  pursuit  of  the  perpe- 
trators; they  had  only  gone  a  short  distance  when  Mr. 
Norment  requested  some  one  present  to  go  and  tell  them 
to  return,  as  they  were  risking  their  lives  without  a  prob- 
ability of  coming  up  with  them.  They  returned,  and  after 
placing  Mr.  N.  in  a  more  comfortable  position  and 
binding  up  the  wound,  one  of  his  brothers-in-law  (J.  T. 
Bridgers)  started  for  Dr.  John  Dick,  who  lived  about  four 
miles  distant,  at  the  same  time  dispatching  a  negro  boy 
for  Dr.  R.  M.  Norment,  a  brother  of  Mr.  Norment,  who 
was  also  a  physician,  living  in  Lumberton,  a  distance  of 
fourteen  miles.  When  they  were  momentarily  expecting 
the  arrival  of  Dr.  Dick,  they  were  again  startled  by  the 
loud  report  of  a  gun  in  less  than  a  mile  on  the  road 
which  the  doctor  would  come.  The  family  were  fear- 
ful that  they  had  fired  on  the  doctor  to  prevent  his  com- 
ing to  the  sufferer's  relief.  After  a  lapse  of  about  an 
hour  and  a  half,  the  doctor  came,  accompanied  by  J.  F. 
and  T.  C.  Bridgers,  reporting  that  three-fourths  of  a 
mile  above  the  house  a  man  stepped  from  behind  a  tree 
and  shot  the  mule;  that  they  jumped  out,  in  their  haste 


THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY.  89 

and  excitement  leaving  the  medicine  in  the  buggy.  As 
they  crossed  the  road  to  the  opposite  side  from  where 
the  man  was  standing  who  did  the  shooting,  they  passed 
in  arm's  length  of  two  others.  A  negro,  who  was  at  the 
house  of  Mr.  Norment  when  the  doctor  came,  volunteer- 
ed to  go  for  the  medicine  if  Mr.  Bridgers  would  lend  him 
a  gun.  The  guu  was  furnished,  and  he,  with  three  others, 
started  after  the  medicines.  A  short  distance  from  the 
house  of  Mr.  Norment,  one  of  the  negroes  stated  that  he 
saw  a  woman,  or  man  dressed  in  women's  clothes,  run 
from  the  road  into  the  bushes.  The  supposition  was 
that  it  was  either  the  wife  or  mother  of  some  one  of  the 
number  who  did  the  shooting  at  Mr.  Norment's.  The 
negroes  returned  just  before  daylight  with  the  medicines, 
reporting  the  mule  dead,  and  the  parties  near  the  place, 
as  they  had  distinctly  heard  voices  close  by.  They  no 
doubt  expected  John  Bridgers  to  go  for  the  medicine, 
and  in  case  that  he  did  they  would  murder  him  also, 
as  they  openly  declared  that  it  was  their  intention  to 
shoot  both  Mr.  Norment  and  John  Bridgers  on  that 
night  They  had  both  been  very  active  in  attempting 
the  capture  of  the  murderers  of  ex-Sheriff  King,  and  for 
thus  transgressing  the  assumed  rights  of  the  murderous 
gang  their  lives  were  to  be  the  forfeit.  Drs.  R.  F. 
Lewis  and  R.  M.  Norment  reached  Mr.  Norment's 
about  4  o'clock  in  the  morning.  They,  with  the  assist- 
ance of  Drs.  Dick  and  Barnes,  proceeded  to  examine  the 
wound,  and  pronounced  amputation  necessary,  as  the 
bones  of  the  right  leg  were  completely  shattered.  About 
5  o'clcck  in  the  afternoon  the  operation  was  completed, 
and  Mr.  N.  was  found  to  be  in  almost  a  dying  condition, 
from  which  he  revived  for  a  few  hours.  From  the 
shock,  loss  of  blood,  and  the  use  of  chloroform,  all  com- 


90  THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY. 

bined,  reaction  never  took  place,  and  he  expired  a 
quarter  to  7  o'clock  the  morning  of  the  21st,  living 
about  thirty-six  hours  after  he  was  wounded. 

This  diabolical  deed  spread  gloom  and  terror  through- 
out the  community,  and  may  well  be  said  to  have  been 
the  beginning  of  the  war  in  Robeson  county  with  the 
Lowrie  Banditti.  For  weeks  and  months  the  citizens  of 
this  county  slept  with  their  guns  by  their  sides;  the 
young  men,  armed  and  equipped,  went  forth  in  search 
of  the  vile  desperadoes;  with  steady  tramp  and  hushed 
voices  they  traversed  the  country  for  miles,  but  with 
little  or  no  success. 

I  will  here  state  the  true  causes  which  led  to  the  shoot- 
ing of  Mr.  Norment.  After  the  surrender  he  was  com- 
missioned captain  of  the  militia.  The  robber  clan  had 
then  been  operating  in  the  county  about  two  years,  rob- 
bing and  plundering  at  their  pleasure  — unmolested. 
After  the  murder  of  Sheriff  King,  Mr.  Norment  received 
orders  to  take  out  a  portion  of  the  militia  and  endeavor 
to  capture  his  murderers,  which  he  did,  but  was  unsuc- 
cessful. He  also  had  orders  to  arrest  Zack  McLaughlin 
on  the  charge  of  stealing.  On  taking  him  to  trial,  suffi- 
cient evidence  not  being  elicited  against  him,  he  was  re- 
leased. Although  he  knew  Mr.  Norment  acted  under  or- 
ders, it  did  not  tend  to  quell  the  revengeful  ire  of  his  na- 
ture, and  he  determined  to  kill  him.  Sometime  prior  to 
this  Andrew  Strong  had  been  arrested  by  Mr.  N.  for  rob- 
bing the  gin-house  of  Mr.  John  Purcell;  he  was  also  re- 
leased on  the  same  grounds.  These  two  were  the  principal 
actors  in  this  deed  of  blood,  urged  on  by  others  of  their 
friends. 

Mr.  Norment  was  a  mechanic  by  trade.  Those  in  the 
vicinity  where  he  lived  can  testify  to  his  usefulness. 


THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY.  91 

MR.  JAMES  D.    BRIDGERS. 

A  few  weeks  after  the  murder  of  Mr.  Norment  four  of 
the  robber  clan  were  discovered  making  an  entrance  in- 
to the  enclosure  of  Mr.  Bridgers;  two  of  his  sons,  John 
and  A.  C.  Bridgers,  fired  on  them  from  the  windows, 
and  they  hastily  retired  without  doing  any  damage. 
They  were  often  around  the  premises  for  the  purpose, 
as  they  afterwards  declared,  of  shooting  his  sons  above 
named,  as  they  had  been  active  in  attempting  their  cap- 
ture. For  this  purpose  they  visited  his  house  on  the 
17th  of  August,  1870,  after  dark;  they  made  various 
noises  around  the  yard,  hoping  to  draw  them  out,  but 
they  did  not  succeed.  The  Messrs.  Bridgers  know 
ing  the  superiority  of  the  number  of  the  gang  (about 
fifteen)  with  whom  they  had  to  contend,  and 
hearing  them  at  different  points  around  the  yard,  kept 
within  doors,  impatiently  waiting  for  them  to  come  in 
closer  quarters.  The  robber  gang  having  been  informed 
that  their  opponents  here  were  well  prepared  to  meet  them, 
and  that  they  would  have  bloody  work  should  they  ever 
enter  the  yard,  concluded  on  this  occasion  to  satiate 
their  thirst  for  blood,  and  also  to  vent  their  spite  in  an- 
other quarter.  Zack  McLaughlin  remarked  to  the  gang, 
"Well,  boys,  we  have  come  to-night  for  blood,  and  must 
not  be  disappointed,  we'll  shoot  the  old  man's  cattle." 
According,  they  passed  on  to  the  cow-lot,  and  com- 
menced shooting  in  a  shocking  manner  the  harmless 
brutes.  The  Messrs.  Bridgers  fired  on  them  from  the 
house,  but  the  night  being  extremely  dark,  could  only 
tell  of  their  whereabouts  by  the  flash  of  their  guns;  they 
fired  only  a  few  times  after  the  boys  opened  on  them; 
they  then  retired,  leaving  two  cows  shot  down   and  sev- 


92  THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY. 

eral  others  badly  wounded.  This  cruel,  inhuman  act 
shows  in  a  proper  light  the  character  of  the  fiends  with 
whom  the  people  of  Robeson  had  to  contend. 

Just  after  the  robbers  commenced  firing  on  the  cattle, 
the  family  learned  from  the  simultaneous  flashing  of  their 
guns  that  their  number  was  more  than  they  at  first  an- 
ticipated. They  concluded  to  blow  the  trumpet,  hoping 
that  some  of  their  neighbors  might  hear  and  come  to  their 
aid;  as  soon  as  the  first  sound  of  the  trumpet  rent  the 
air,  the  robbers  fired  more  rapidly,  fiercely  yelling,  at 
the  same  time  the  dogs  barking,  and  the  firing  going  on 
from  the  house  making  quite  a  discordant  sound.  The 
excitement  for  a  short  time  is  past  description.  Their 
next  visit  to  Mr.  Bridgers'  was  on  the  14th  day  of  July,  1871, 
the  same  day  on  which  they  sent  Mr.  McNair  with  the 
letter  to  Col.  Sinclair  and  Sheriff  McMillan,  orderingthe 
release  of  their  wives,  who  were  kept  in  confinement 
in  Lumberton,  for  the  purpose,  as  it  is  said,  of  "starving 
out  the  outlaws."  Such  a  thing,  though,  was  preposter- 
ous, for  they  certainly  had  many  friends,  white  and  col- 
ored, that  aided  them  at  any  time  and  in  any  way  de- 
sired. They  came  to  Mr.  Bridgers'  about  12  o'clock; 
they  ate  dinner,  and  conducted  themselves  very  quietly. 
Steve  Lowrie  did  not  come  until  after  the  others  had 
eaten;  he  came  up  picking  his  "banjo"  and  singing, 
seemed  in  excellent  spirits.  The  five  desperadoes,  heav- 
ily armed  with  repeaters,  bowie-knives,  double-barreled 
guns  and  Spencer  rifles,  until  they  were  burdensome  to 
carry,  formed  really  a  formidable  looking  party.  They 
all  started  to  meet  Mr.  McNair  about  4  o'clock  in  the 
afternoon;  they  did  not  go  far  before  they  met  him;  he 
delivered  them  Col.  Sinclair's  reply,  which  seemed  in 
no  wise  to  suit  their  wishes.      With  an  angry  scowl  they 


THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY.  93 

perused  each  line,  and  the  deep,  dark  anger  which  set- 
tled in  their  faces  reminded  one  of  the  heavy  mutterings 
that  precede  the  thunder  storm,  and,  no  doubt,  would 
have  fallen  in  all  its  fury  on  many  an  innocent  head 
but  for  the  timely  interposition  of  some  of  our  grey- 
headed citizens,  who  succeeded  in  getting  those  in 
authority  to  release  the  wives  of  the  desperadoes.  The 
last  visit  of  the  entire  band  to  Mr.  Bridgers'  was  in 
August,  1871.  Several  of  the  neighbors  were  there 
working  on  his  gins;  among  them  was  Mr.  Thomas  Bul- 
lard,  whom  H.  B.  Lowrie  had  determined  to  kill;  he 
went  there  on  this  occasion,  as  he  openly  avowed  to  a 
gentleman  on  his  way,  for  this  purpose.  The  cause  of 
his  animosity  to  Mr.  B.  was  this:  He,  in  company  with 
Boss  Strong,  had  met  Messrs.  Bullard  and  Holcomb  a 
few  days  before,  and  gave  them  positive  commands  not 
to  mention  seeing  them  to  any  one;  they  mentioned  it  to 
some  one,  and  it  finally  reached  the  ears  of  Henry  Berry, 
and  for  this  reason  only  he  determined  to  kill  him.  He 
told  Mr.  Bullard  to  walk  with  him  a  short  distance,  as  he 
wanted  to  talk  with  him  privately;  they  walked  off  about 
a  hundred  yards  and  sat  down;  in  a  few  minutes  som; 
of  the  young  men  followed,  and  learned  that  H.  B.  Low- 
rie was  very  much  enraged  with  Mr.  B.,  and  that  his 
anger  must  in  some  way  be  appeased,  or  another  victim 
would  also  be  added  to  the  list  already  on  record  against 
him.  The  gentlemen  were  unarmed,  and  therefore 
helpless  to  give  any  aid  by  force  of  arms;  two  of  the 
gentlemen  present  affirmed  that  they  had  been  with  Mr. 
B.  the  day  after  he  had  seen  H.  B.  L.,  and  he  did  not 
mention  seeing  him  at  all,  and  that  he  had  been  misin- 


94  THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY. 

* 
formed,    &c.      This  quieted  him  somewhat,  and  he  con- 
cluded to  release  him  for  the  present,  provided  he  would 
be  more  careful  in  the  future. 


MR.   ZACH  FULMORE. 

On  the  third  Sabbath  in  May,  1870,  they  went  to  the 
house  of  Mr.  Fulmore  during  the  absence  of  the  family 
at  church.  There  was  a  negro  left  in  charge  of  the 
house,  and  he  had  fallen  asleep;  he  was  aroused  from 
his  nap  by  four  armed  men  in  disguise.  They  went  in- 
to the  dwelling,  broke  open  trunks,  drawers,  &c,  ran- 
sacked the  house,  and  carried  off  a  large  amount  in  val- 
uable articles  and  money.  Mr.  Robert  Chaffin  and  wife 
were  on  a  visit  to  Mr.  Fulmore  at  the  time,  but  had  also 
gone  to  church,  leaving  their  trunk  there;  this  they  en- 
tered, taking  a  suit  of  Mr.  Chaffin's,  a  watch-case,  key 
and  some  very  valuable  papers  that  were  in  the  trunk. 
They  did  not  trouble  Mrs.  Chaffin's  clothing  beyond 
robbing  the  pocket  of  a  dress  of  a  small  pen-kr;ife. 


ALEXANDER  McMILLAN,   ESQ. 

On  Sunday  morning,  12th  of  September,  1870,  five  of 
these  desperadoes  made  their  appearance  at  the  house 
of  Mr.  McMillan.  The  Messrs.  McMillan  were  at  the 
gin-house  near  the  dwelling,  engaged  in  making  a  coffin 
for  a  child  of  one  of  their  neighbors,  when  they  ap- 
proached them  in  their  usual  disguise  as  negroes.  They 
at  once  took  them  prisoners  and  marched  them  into  the 
kitchen,  placed  them  under  guard  of  one  of  their  num- 
ber, while  the   others    searched    the    house.      Breakfast 


THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY  95 

"for  the  family  was  on  the  table,  to  which  their  guard 
quietly  helped  himself.  They  robbed  the  house  of  a 
large  quantity  of  bed-clothing,  wearing  apparel,  guns, 
pistols,  and  five  dollars  in  money.  They  presented  a 
gun  at  the  breast  of  Mr.  Alexander  McMillan,  and  curs- 
ed both  him  and  his  sister  in  a  shameful  manner.  The 
Messrs.  McMillan  had  been  expecting  a  visit  from  the 
robbers  for  some  time,  and  were  in  the  constant  habit 
of  keeping  their  guns  with  them,  but  it  being  the  Sab- 
bath day,  omitted  their  usual  precaution.  The  robbers 
no  doubt  had  been  watching  their  opportunity,  and  took 
advantage  of  their  separation  from  their  arms  that  morn- 
ing to  put  their  plans  into  execution.  They  rushed  first 
into  the  house  and  got  possession  of  their  guns  and  pis- 
tols, and  then  there  was  no  difficulty  in  deterring  them 
from  anything  like  resistance.  They  came  after  this, 
and  robbed  his  smoke-house  of  four  or  five  hundred 
pounds  of  bacon.  The  Messrs.  McMillan  discovered 
them  at  another  time  inside  their  enclosure,  and  fired 
upon  them;  the  robbers  returned  the  fire  without  any 
damage.  Scarcely  a  week  passed  up  to  this  time  with- 
out some  citizen  of  Robeson  being  robbed;  no  matter 
how  cautious,  watchful  and  circumspect  the  people 
were,  at  an  unwary  hour  the  fiends  would  suddenly 
fall  upon  them,  and  before  they  could  realize  their  sit- 
uation or  prepare  for  defense,  have  them  unarmed  and 
helpless,  unable  to  raise  a  hand  in  defense  of  their 
homes. 


ROBBERY  OF  MR.  E.  H.  PAUL. 

Thursday  the  4th  day  of  August,  1870,  dawned  bright 
and    beautiful.      The   sun    shot    up    from    beyond    the 


96  THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY 

eastern  horizon,  and  shone  as  it  were  with  increased 
brilliancy,  and  "nature  in  her  glory  smiled."  That  day 
was  to  decide  the  great  political  contest  between  the 
two  parties  of  North  Carolina.  The  last  month  had 
been  one  of  great  excitement,  and  was  said  to  have  wit- 
nessed the  liveliest  campaign  that  had  ever  taken  place 
in  the  State,  but  it  was  over;  the  speakers  had  retired 
from  the  field,  and  all  was  quiet.  Every  effort  had 
been  made  by  the  good  people  of  Robeson  county  to 
throw  off  the  yoke  of  Radical  tyranny  that  had  been  for 
the  past  five  years  galling  them  so  bitterly.  Here  the 
true  citizens  were  fully  aroused  to  their  duty,  as  well  as 
interest,  and  resolved  to  discharge  that  duty,  they 
went  to  the  polls  determined  to  elect  good  men — men 
that  would  adhere  strictly  to  a  just  administration  of 
the  law,  and  aid  them  in  bringing  to  justice  the  band  of 
murderers  that  cut  off  so  many  of  her  best  men,  and  re- 
store the  peace  and  quiet  of  former  years. 

These  dastardly  thieves,  taking  advantage  of  the  nec- 
essary absence  of  the  voters  from  their  homes,  planned 
and  perpetrated  one  of  the  coolest  and  most  daring  rob- 
beries that  ever  shocked  a  community.  "While  Mr.  E. 
H.  Paul,  a  young  man  who  then  resided  in  Alfordsville 
Township,  and  who  owTned  a  store  and  turpentine  dis- 
tillery, was  absent  at  the  polls,  they  went  to  his  house 
and  demanded  of  his  sister  the  key  that  opened  the 
store;  she  having  thrown  it  away  when  she  saw  them 
coming,  replied  that  she  did  not  have  it;  whereupon 
they  arrested  her  and  her  cousin,  Mr.  Richard  Paul, 
and  all  the  domestics,  put  them  in  the  kitchen,  placed  a 
guard  at  the  door,  and  proceeded  to  the  store.  One 
of  the  party  (who  was  afterwards  ascertained  to  have 
been  Saunders,  the.  detective)  took  a  key  from  his  pocket 


THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY  97 

and  opened  the  door.  They  then  seized  such  things  as 
they  wanted,  which  consisted  of  dry  goods  and  grocer- 
ies, to  a  large  amount.  Taking  the  mule  and  cart  of 
Davis  Bullard  (who  had  arrived  while  they  were  plun- 
dering, and  had  been  put  with  others  under  guard),  they 
conveyed  their  booty  to  some  place  where  it  was  re- 
ceived by  their  allies  and  conveyed  away;  returning  the 
mule  and  cart,  they  coolly  took  their  departure.  Steve 
Lowrie  was  recognized  as  one  of  the  plundering  party 
by  one  of  those  placed  under  guard. 


ROBBERY  OF  MRS.  WILLIAM  McKAY. 

On  the  3rd  day  of  October,  A.  D.  1870,  the  whole 
band  of  outlaws,  together  with  four  other  men,  all 
blacked  and  disguised,  made  their  appearance  at  the 
residence  of  Mrs.  William  McKay,  near  Floral  College, 
in  the  hope  of  finding  Mr.  John  Taylor  there,  as  he  had 
spoken  of  going  to  Mrs.  McKay's  to  live,  she  being  his  sis- 
ter; and  as  he  had  been  recently  burnt  out  at  Moss 
Neck  by  the  outlaws,  they  supposed  that  he  had  already 
moved,  but  in  this  they  were  disappointed;  Mr.  John 
Taylor  was  not  there.  Six  of  the  number  were  stationed 
outside  of  the  yard,  whilst  the  other  five  rushed  in  at 
the  gate,  shooting  a  large  Newfoundland  dog  as  they 
went  along.  Entering  the  main  residence  they  went 
through  where  the  family  of  Mrs.  McKay  were  at  the 
time.  On  seeing  them,  Mrs.  McKay  ran  to  see  where 
her  children  were.  The  outlaws  ordered  her  to  stop, 
bringing  their  guns  to  bear  upon  her;  she  told  them  that 
she  only  wanted  to  gather  her  children  up,  as  any  good 
mother  would    have  done.      They  then    put  the    family 


91  THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY. 

under    arrest,    the    negroes    fleeing  in   every  direction. 
Leaving  one  of  their  number  to  guard  Mrs.  McKay  and 
family,  the  rest  commenced  ransacking  the  house,  first 
taking  the  jewelry,   then  every  other  thing  of  value,  in- 
cluding bed-clothes  and  wearing  apparel.     After  getting 
through,  they  told  Miss  Pattie  McKay  (a  step-daughter 
of  Mrs.  McKay)  that  she   must  play  some  on  the  piano- 
forte for  them,  which  she  did,  in   order  to  keep  them  in 
a  good  humor;  after  she  finished    playing  for  them  one 
of  them  told  her  that  she  had  a  gold  ring  on  her  finger 
which  he    wanted,   and  that  she    must    give  it  up;  she 
readily  pulled  the  ring  off  and  tossed  it  to  him,  remark- 
ing that  he    was  cruel.     Considering    that    the    outlaws 
were  just  from  the  brandy  still  of  Mr.    Angus  Leach, 
a  near  neighbor  of  Mrs.  McKay's,  and  had  taken  a  con- 
siderable quantity  of  brandy  from  the  still,  aid    consid- 
ering, too,  that  they  all  loved  brandy,  and  that  a  goodly 
number  of  them  were  drunk,    it  is  surprising  that  they 
behaved  as  well  as  they  did  at  Mrs.    McKay's;  they   of- 
fered no  insult  to   either  her  or    family,   except   arrest- 
ing and  holding  them  under  arrest   until  they  had  plun- 
dered her  house;  they  remarked  to  her  on  leaving  that 
they  needed  everything  that  they  had  taken,    that  they 
had  to  live  as  well  as  other  people,  etc. 

Reader,  imagine  a  highly  cultivated  widow  lady,  with 
her  two  little  boys  and  an  accomplished  step-daughter, 
under  the  arrest  of  drunken  outlaws,  and  you  have  the 
situation  !  Some  time  elapsed  afte^  the  outlaws  left  Mrs. 
McKay's  ere  she  could  get  a  negro  to  carry  a  note  to 
one  of  her  neighbors,  informing  them  of  her  situation. 
How  true  it  is  that  no  one  knows  what  a  day  may  bring 
forth. 


THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY.  99 

THE     OLD    FIELD    FIGHT— THE    KILLING    OF 
STEPHEN  DAVIS  AND  WOUNDING  OF 

ANGUS  McLEAN. 

On  the  morning  of  Oct.  4th,  1870,  the  entire  band  of 
outlaws  visited  the  premises  of  Mr.  Angus  Leach,  near 
Floral  College.  He  hah  a  brandy  still,  and  distilled  for 
the  neighborhood.  From  this  fact  it  was  afterwards 
known  as  the  "Brandy  Raid."  After  placing  a  guard 
over  Mr.  Leach,  they  proceeded  to  help  themselves  to 
anything  they  could  find,  and  the  brandy  especially;  of 
this  they  carried  off  a  large  quantity.  On  the  same  day 
the  news  of  the  affair  reached  Maxton,  Capt.  Murdock 
McLean  gathered  together  seven  or  eight  men  and  went 
in  pursuit  of  the  robbers  by  way  of  the  Lumberton 
road  on  the  other  side  of  Lumber  River  from  Mr. 
Leach's.  This  movement  took  the  outlaws  by  surprise, 
as  they  did  not  expect  any  one  to  be  after  them  on  that 
side  of  the  river.  It  was  on  this  side  of  the  river  that 
George  Applewhite  lived,  and  the  robbers  called  up 
at  his  house  to  have  a  "good  time"  over  the  captured 
brandy.  About  this  time  Capt.  McLean,  with  his  squad, 
arrived.  The  outlaws  ran  into  an  old  pine  field  near 
by,  and  endeavored  to  conceal  and  protect  themselves 
by  getting  the  stumps  and  bushes  between  them  and  the 
militia.  The  firing  now  began  in  real  earnest.  Dur- 
ing the  fire  Stephen  Davis  rusherd  into  the  midst  of  the 
robbers,  and  Henry  Berry  shot  him  in  the  head,  wound- 
ing him  mortally.  Mr.  Davis  did  not  fall,  but  reeled 
and  staggered  off  into  the  river  swamp  near  by,  and 
was  reported  among  the  wounded  and  missing.  Angus 
McLean  swam  the  river  and  got  to  Mr.  Gilbert's  house, 
he  being  slightly  wounded  in  the  foot.      This    was,   as  I 


100  THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY. 

before  stated,  October  4th,  1870.  Next  morning,  the  5th, 
search  was  made  for  Mr.  Davis,  but  he  could  not  be 
found;  all  who  were  engaged  in  the  fight  were  sure  that 
Davis  was  wounded,  as  they  saw  him  turn  his  head  to 
one  side  when  fired  upon  by  H.  B.  Lowrie.  A  messen- 
ger was  dispatched  to  Maxton,  his  place  of  business,  to 
ascertain  if  he  had  arrived,  but  found  he  had  not. 

Sheriff  McMillan  having  received  intelligence  of  this 

affair,  came  to  the  Red  Banks  with  five  or  six  men,  who 
joined    him    on    his    way;   he    reached    the  Banks  at  3 

o'clock  the  morning  after  the  fight.  Nothing  could  be 
done  towards  searching  for  the  wounded — perhaps  dy- 
ing—man  before  daylight.  All  were  satisfied  that  he 
was  killed,  mortally  wounded  or  captured  by  the  out- 
laws. He  was  found  at  10  o'clock  the  day  after  the 
fight,  in  the  river  swamp,  lying  on  his  face  in  the  mud, 
unconscious  and  nearly  famished,  not  having  drauk 
any  water  since  the  evening  before.  He  was  taken  to 
the  house  of  Mr.  Roberts,  where  medical  attention  was 
given  him,  but  to  no  purpose;  the  fatal  shot  had  pene- 
trated the  brain  of  the  brave  and  gallant  Davis  —he 
who  had  stood  the  storm  of  shot  ai.d  shell  on  many  a 
battle-field,  to  be  slain  by  the  hands  of  a  robber  and 
midnight  assassin.  Mr.  Davis  was  placed  on  the  cars 
and  conveyed  to  Maxton,  where  all  that  kind  friends 
and  physicians  could  do  was  done,  but  it  was  of  no 
avail;  he  could  not  be  aroused  from  the  lethargy  into 
which  he  had  fallen,  and  he  passed  quietly  away  to  the 
spirit  land.  A  brave,  daring  man,  in  his  death  Robeson 
county  lost  one  of  her  best  and  most  noble  citizens. 


THE  LOWR1E  HISTORY.  101 

THE  MURDER  OF  MR.   J.   TAYLOR. 

On  the  morning  of  the  8th  of  October,  1870,  the  dead 
body  of  one  Malcomb  Sanderson  was  found  near  the 
saw  mill  of  Mr.  William  C.  McNeill,  of  the  county  of 
Robeson.  An  inquest  was  held  over  his  body  by  Coro- 
ner Robert  Chaffin,  and  the  verdict  was,  "Deceased 
came  to  his  death  by  gun-shot  wounds  from  parties  un- 
known." 

Mr.  McNeill's  son-in-law,  Mr.  John  Taylor,  was  living 
with  him  at  the  time,  and  had  been  persecuted  by  An- 
drew Strong  and  others  of  the  Lowrie  band  for  the  rea- 
son that  he  would  not  aid  them  in  their  atrocious 
crimes.  He  was  the  victim  upon  whom  they  determined 
to  fix  this  murder.  They  therefore  set  about  arranging 
their  plans,  and  by  some  means  succeeded  in  fixing  the 
crime  upon  Mr.  Taylor.  A  warrant  was  forthwith  is- 
sued for  his  arrest,  and  he  was  brought  before  a  Justice 
of  the  Peace,  arraigned  and  tried  for  the  murder  of  said 
Sanderson,  and  found  guilty  by  said  Justice  of  the 
Peace.  Mr.  Taylor's  friends  (and  he  had  many)  were 
indignant  at  the  idea  of  such  an  outrage,  and  immedi- 
ately determined  to  have  him  released  on  a  writ  of 
habeas  corpus.  The  ^Sheriff,  Roderick  McMillan,  car- 
ried him  to  Rockingham,  in  Richmond  county  (Court 
being  in  session  at  that  place)  before  his  Honor  Judge 
Russell,  who,  upon  investigating  the  case,  released  him 
upon  Mr.  Taylor's  giving  a  bond  for  his  personal  ap- 
pearance at  the  next  term  of  court  held  for  Robeson 
county  in  the  sum  of  five  hundred  dollars,  and  Mr.  Tay- 
lor returned  to  his  distressed  family.  His  enemies  not 
being  satisfied  in  their  efforts  to  deprive  him  of  his  liber- 
ty, set  about  the  second  time  to  annoy  hirn.      One  Mar- 


102  THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY 

tin  Ransom  sued  out  a  peace  warrant  against  him,  and 
he  was  re-arrested  and  arraigned  before  a  magistrate 
again,  who  bound  him  in  a  heavy  bond  to  keep  the 
peace.  One  of  Mr.  Taylor's  friends  endeavored  to  com- 
promise the  affair,  but  did  not  succeed  in  effecting  any- 
thing, and  Mr.  Taylor  must  await  his  trial  at  the  next 
term  of  the  court.  After  refusing  to  comply  with  Mr. 
Taylor's  terms  of  compromise,  Martin  Ransom  returned 
home,  and,  it  is  supposed,  held  a  conference  with  the 
outlaws,  who  must  have  given  him  an  inkling  of  their 
intentions,  for  he  retraced  his  steps  to  Lumberton  and 
withdrew  the  warrant.  Not  exceeding  three  days  there- 
after, in  going  from  his  home  to  the  depot  at  Moss  Neck 
Mr.  Taylor  received  his  death  wounds  from  the  hands 
of  Henry  Berry  Lowrie,  Stephen  Lowrie  and  Boss 
Strong,  who,  from  the  side  of  the  mill-dam,  fired  on  him, 
the  entire  load  from  one  of  their  weapons  passing  through 
his  head,  scattering  his  brains  and  sending  them  floating 
on  the  waters  of  the  pond.  Thus  fell  at  the  hands  of 
these  fiends  incarnate  another  of  Robeson  county's  high- 
toned,  noble  sons,  leaving  a  young  wife  and  one  son  to 
mourn  for  him.  My  pen  almost  fails  to  be  guided  to  re- 
cord the  atrocious  deed.  At  the  time  Mr.  Taylor  was 
killed  there  was  a  detachment  pf  Battery  A,  4th  U.  S. 
Artillery,  stationed  within  two  hundred  yards  of  the 
spot  where  Mr.  Taylor  fell.  Right  here  a  very  natural 
question  arises,  viz:  Why  this  detachment  allowed  such 
a  crime  to  be  perpetrated  in  broad  open  daylight,  and 
so  near  them? 

Perhaps  those  soldiers  can  best  answer,  but  we  will 
take  the  liberty,  notwithstanding,  of  saying  they  were 
well  pleased,  if  not  aiders  and  abettors  in  all  the  deep, 
dark   wrongs  committed  against  the  people  of  Robeson 


THElLOWRIE  HISTORY.  103 

county  by  that  band  of  desperadoes  that  so  long  infest- 
ed our  country,  making  the  hearts  of  her  sons  and 
daughters  to  throb  with  anguish,  and  weep  tears  that 
naught  can  ever  dry. 


JOHN  SANDERS,  THE  DETECTIVE. 

In  the  year  A.  D.  1869,  in  the  month  of  November, 
John  Sanders,  a  police  officer  from  Boston,  and  a  native 
of  Nova  Scotia,  at  the  instance  of  some  leading  Conser- 
vatives in  Robeson  countv,  settled  in  Scuffletown,  and 
commenced  teaching  the  Indian  children  how  to  spell 
and  read.  To  cover  up  and  conceal  his  design  he  was 
accredited  by  the  Sheriff  of  New  Hanover  county  to 
some  of  the  leading  Republicans  of  the  county.  John 
Sanders'  scheme  of  capturing  the  outlaws  was  a  shrewd 
one.  Aware  that  they  were  anxious  to  leave  their  old 
haunts  and  the  swamps  of  Robeson,  and  get  safely  out 
of  the  States  to  Mexico  or  to  the  frontier,  he  proposed  to 
show  them  the  way,  assume  to  be  their  protector  and 
friend,  and  had  prepared  a  wagon,  and  on  the  19th  of  No- 
vember, 1870,  had  the  wagons  packed  with  their  families 
the  outlaws  having  fully  agreed  to  slip  off  with  them 
under  the  cover  of  darkness,  Sanders  having  ar- 
ranged beforeharid  to  have  them  intercepted  at  some 
designated  point  in  Georgia.  To  bind  the  Scuffletonians 
to  his  confidence  by  extraordinary  means,  he  pretended 
to  organize  Masonic  lodges  throughout  Scuffletown 
whilst  teaching  school.  He  spent  over  twelve  months  in 
persevering  cunning  to  win  the  skeptical  hearts  of  the  ban- 
dits, and  in  order  to  appease  the  white  population,  told 
the  uninitiaiedthat  he  was  a  veritable  Ku  Klux.      He  got 


101  THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY. 

into  several  fisticuff  fights  with  white  men,  about  his 
manner  and  mode  of  living,  on  account  of  his  living 
among  the  Scuffletonians  and  teaching  school  among 
them. 

Sanders  was  a  large,  portly  man,  of  great  muscular 
power,  possessing  a  kind,  benignant  look,  a  high,  broad 
forehead,  winning  manners,  with  much  keenness  of  ap- 
prehension and  undoubted  boldness.  But  he  was  be- 
trayed, and  there  is  reason  to  believe  that  his  fate  is  to 
be  attributed  to  the  want  of  due  caution  on  the  part  of 
some  one  who  had  learned  his  purposes.  He  died  as  he 
had  lived — in  mystery  and  out  of  the  reach  or  sight  of 
pitying  man.  He  was  taken  captive  by  H.  B.  Lowrie 
and  the  other  bandits  on  the  morning  of  November  21st, 
A..  D.  1870,in  a  bay  near  the  residence  of  W.C.  McNeill, 
and  was  never  again  seen  by  mortal  eyes  except  by  the 
outlaws.  On  the  night  previous  to  his  capture  H.  B. 
Lowrie  and  his  associates  had  fifty-six  of  the  Indians 
of  Scuffletown  as  accomplices,  guarding  the  roads  to 
give  the  signal  when  Sanders  would  enter  their  lines, 
and  when  poor  Sanders  entered  their  lines  he  heard  the 
rough  word,  "Halt!"  Almost  immediately  the  voice  of 
Sanders  was  heard  by  some  other  white  prisoners  say- 
ing, "I  surrender."  The  outlaws  then  marched  Sanders 
off  to  a  secret  camp  on  the  Back  Swamp,  called  the 
"Devil's  Deer,"  (den)  between  Inman's  bridge  and  the 
Back  Swamp,  not  far  from  the  residence  of  Zach  T. 
McLaughlin,  and  proceeded  forthwith  with  devilish 
malignity  to  torture  him  by  firing  volleys  over  his  head, 
bruising  him  with  gun-stocks  and  clubs,  and  finally  by 
administering  doses  of  arsenic  to  him  and  opening  his 
veins  with  a  pen-knife.  For  three  days,  or  until  Thurs- 
day,   these     horrible  wretches  surrounded    their  white 


THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY.  105 

victim,  their  dull  blue  eyes  calmly  enjoying  his  agonies, 
and  he  was  reminded  every  hour  that  escape  or  mercy 
were  hopeless,  or  at  least  out  of  the  question. 

The  fortitude  and  philosophy  of  Sanders  gained  the 
respect  of  his  murderers,  and  before  carrying  his  sen- 
tence into  execution  they  permitted  him  to  write  a  fare- 
well letter  to  his  wife  and  family,  which  they  posted  by 
mail  with  a  sort  of  grim  and  military  observance  of  jus- 
tice. Human  or  savage  nature  seldom  presents  a  picture 
so  atrocious  as  this  of  Sanders,  guarded  in  the  wild 
swamps  of  Carolina,  but  almost  within  the  sound  of 
Christian  firesides,  looking  into  inevitable  and  violent 
death  after  days  of  pain.  The  object  of  keeping  San- 
ders alive  so  long  has  never  been  explained.  Whether 
due  to  divided  counsels  or  love  of  persecuting  him  while 
still  alive,  or  the  desire  to  wrest  information  from  him, 
has  been,  and  ever  will  remain,  in  doubt  and  shrouded 
in  mystery.  To  die  thus  miserably  in  the  swamps  of 
Scuffletown,  among  the  human  moccasins  that  infested 
it,  was  indeed  a  miserable  death.  On  Thursday  night 
the  outlaws  told  Sanders  that  his  time  had  come,  and 
they  blindfolded  his  eyes  and  tied  him  to  a  tree.  He  made 
a  few  words  of  prayer  and  gave  a  signal,  and  Steve  Low- 
rie,  the  meanest  of  the  outlaws,  emptied  both  barrels  of 
his  shot-gun  into  the  body  of  the  poor,  helpless  John 
Sanders. 

The  end  of  the  unfortunate  Sanders  was  related  by 
Henderson  Oxendine,  one  of  the  outlaws,  prior  to  his 
execution,  and  was  fully  confirmed  afterwards  by  Hen- 
ry Berry  Lowrie,  who  told  several  white  men  in  the 
county  that  "they  were  compelled  to  kill  Sanders  in  or- 
der to  save  themselves;  that  they  all  pitied  him,"  &c. 
After  the    hanging  of  Henderson    Oxendine,   a  party   of 


106  THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY. 

twenty-five  soldiers  and  citizens,  led  by  Major  Thomas 
and  Lieutenants  Howe  and  Simpson  followed  the  direc- 
tions given  by  Oxendine  in  his  confession,  and  without 
difficulty,  found  the  camp  where  Sanders  had  been  con- 
fined. It  was  in  the  thickest  part  of  Back  Swamp,  on 
an  oak  island,  and  scattered  around  were  the  spade  and 
some  cooking  utensils.  They  proceeded  to  search  for 
the  remains,  and  found  them  decently  wrapped  in  a 
blanket,  with  the  hands  folded  in  a  dignified  manner, 
and  the  daguerreotype  of  the  murdered  man's  wife  rev- 
erently placed  upon  his  breast.  The  cool  particulari- 
ties and  deliberation  make  the  tragedy  even  more  hein- 
ous by  the  awe  which  they  inspired;  it  was  murder  with 
the  appearance  of  sovereignty  and  martial  right.  No 
crime  known  to  modern  society  presents  such  dark  fea- 
tures as  the  killing  of  Sanders,  and  to  this  day  the  peo- 
ple of  Robeson  turn  pale  at  the  bloody  reminiscence. 
This  occurrence  will  frighten  the  rising  generation  of 
Carolina  for  the  century  to  come.  The  remains  of  the 
unfortunate  John  Sanders  were  decently  re-interred  in  a 
neat  coffin  by  the  Sheriff  of  the  county. 
Peace  to  his  ashes  ! 


KILLING  OF  ZACH  McLAUGHLIN. 

It  being  positively  ascertained  that  McLaughlin  be- 
longed to  the  robber  clan,  and  accompanied  them  in  all 
their  predatory  visits  in  the  neighborhood,  the  Sheriff, 
Roderick  McMillan,  summoned  his  posse  and  went  to  his 
house  to  arrest  and  carry  him  before  a  Justice  of  the 
Peace  for  trial.  Zack  not  being  aware  that  his  com- 
plicity with  the  "gang"  was  known,  generally  remained 
at  the  house  of  his  mother  in  the  day,   and  at  night-fall 


THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY.  107 

sallied  forth  to  join  his  chosen  comrades.  The  Sheriff 
had  no  difficulty  in  finding  and  arresting  him.  The 
premises  were  searched,  but  there  was  nothing  found 
that  could  be  identified;  he,  however,  was  carried  to 
Red  Banks,  tried,  and  proven  guilty  of  robbing  the  house 
of  a  Mr.  Register  in  the  neighborhood;  although  black- 
ed at  the  time,  he  was  recognized  by  a  young  lady  visi- 
tor, who  appeared  as  a  witness  against  him  at  the  time  of 
trial.  He  was  then  taken  to  Lumberton  and  lodged  in 
jail;  he  soon  made  his  escape  and  entered  the  band  in 
good  earnest.  He  was  recognized  as  one  of  the  party 
who  robbed  the  house  of  Mr.  Zach.  Fulmore.  It  be- 
coming a  certain  fact  that  he  really  belonged  to  the 
band,  he  was  outlawed  by  the  proper  authorities,  and 
killed  by  Henry  Biggs  under  the  following  circumstan- 
ces :  On  the  night  of  the  21st  of  December,  1870,  Biggs 
met  McLaughlin  at  the  house  of  Mr.  Noah  Duncan. 
After  supper  he  asked  Biggs  to  walk  out  with  him, 
which  he  did;  after  going  some  distance  from  the  house, 
McLaughlin  drew  a  pistol  on  Biggs  and  commenced  curs- 
ing him,  telling  him  that  he  had  tried  to  persuade  him 
long  enough  to  join  their  band,  and  that  he  should  compel 
him  that  night  to  go  and  aid  him  in  robbing  some  cab- 
ins belonging  to  turpentine  hands  in  the  neighborhood. 
Biggs  being  unarmed,  had  no  choice  but  to  accompany 
him.  The  negroes  were  all  sleeping  soundly,  and  Zach. 
had  no  difficulty  in  appropriating  to  himself  such  arti- 
cles as  he  thought  proper.  He  left  their  cabins  minus 
clothing,  a  watch,  carpet-sack,  boots,  shoes,  provisions, 
&c.  He  was  drunk,  and  did  not  go  far  before  he  com- 
plained of  being  sleepy  and  very  much  fatigued;  he  or- 
dered Biggs  to  kindle  a  fire,  which  he  proceeded  to  do, 
followed    up    by  Zack.    with    a  drawn   revolver  in  his 


108  THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY. 

hand.  As  soon  as  the  fire  was  made,  Zach.  lay  down 
(making  Biggs  lie  down  with  him)  with  his  gun  under  his 
head,  and  a  belt  around  his  waist  with  three  large  sized 
pistols  in  it.  Soon  he  was  snoring  loudly.  Biggs  con- 
cluded that  the  time  was  at  hand  to  put  an  end  to  the 
life  of  one  of  the  villains  of  Robeson.  Reaching  over 
he  gently  withdrew  a  pistol  from  his  belt,  and  putting 
the  muzzle  to  the  back  of  the  outlaw's  head,  fired,  the 
ball  passing  through  and  coming  out  near  the  eye. 
Biggs  leaped  over  the  body  and  fired  again,  the  ball 
coming  through  near  the  ear.  Biggs  took  his  arms  and 
concealed  them  in  the  woods,  then  reported  to  a  Justice 
of  the  Peace.  A  party  going  out  and  identifying  the 
body,  the  reward  of  two  hundred  dollars  offered  by 
the  county  was  paid  over  to  Biggs. 

The  reader  will  recollect  that  McLaughlin  was  the 
murderer  of  Owen  C.  Norment  in  March  preceding  his 
death.  He  was  considered  by  all  who  knew  him  as 
more  brutal  than  any  of  the  gang.  He  was  the  first  to 
meet  his  merited  fate. 


THE  FATE  OF  HENDERSON  OXENDINE. 

On  Saturday  night,  February  26th,  1871,  the  follow- 
ing young  men,  John  S.  McNeill,  Angus  Archie  McNeill, 
William  McNeill,  John  K.  McNeill,  Alexander  McNeill, 
Daniel  McNeill,  Hector  McNeill,  David  McNeill,  Archie 
D.  McCallum,  W.  Frierson  Buie,  Frank  McKay,  George 
W.  McKay,  and  Archibald  Brown,  captured  Henderson 
Oxendine  in  the  house  of  his  brother-in-law,  George 
Applewhite,  and  formally  committed  him  to  jailinLum- 
berton  on  Monday  morning  following,  showing  their 
magnanimity  in  the  act  of  committing  him  to  jail,  for  he 


THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY.  109 

was  then  an  outlaw  by  the  laws  of  his  country.  A  price 
had  been  set  on  his  head  by  the  civil  authorities  on  ac- 
count of  his  many  crimes,  but  these  young  men  were  as 
generous  as  they  were  brave,  and  instead  of  killing  him 
outright,  delivered  him  Up  to  the  civil  authorities,  and 
insisted  that  he  should  be  regularly  tried  by  court  and  jury ; 
consequently,  on  "Wednesday  week  following  he  was  put 
upon  his  trial  in  an  open  court  in  Lumberton,  before  his 
Honor  Daniel  L.  Russell,  Jr.,  and  after  a  fair  and  impar- 
tial trial,  found  guilty  of  the  crimes  charged  to  him. 
The  Judge  then  sentenced  him  to  be  hanged  on  the  15th 
of  April,  which  sentence  was  carried  into  execution  on 
the  day  appointed  inside  the  jail  yard  at  Lumberton. 

Thus  passed  away  another  of  the  Robeson  county  out- 
laws, in  the  28th  year  of  his  age.  He  was  a  thick-set, 
but  trim,  Indian,  with  straight  black  hair,  and  rather  an 
indifferent  face.  He  made  a  full  confession  of  his 
crimes  before  his  execution,  and  died  almost  stoically, 
without  a  sigh.  Henderson  Oxendine  was  the  only  out- 
law that  was  hanged  for  being  implicated  in  the  mur- 
der of  ex-Sheriff  King.  Steve  Lowrie  and  George  Ap- 
plewhite were  also  found  guilty  of  being  implicated  in 
that  tragedy,  but  escaped  out  of  jail  before  sentence 
was  passed  on  them.  John  Dial,  also  another  Indian, 
outlawed  for  the  same  offense,  turned  State's  evidence 
and  thus  saved  his  neck  although  he  was  equally  as  guil- 
ty as  the  others. 


BILLY  McKOY 

was  an  old  colored  man  living  on  the  plantation  of  Mr. 
Sandy  McKenzie.  He  had  incurred  the  wrath  of  the 
robber  clan  and  their  friends,  not  only  by  standing  aloof 


HO  THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY. 

from  them,  but  also  by  casting  his  vote  in  every  election 
with  the  whites  and  avowing  his  principles  to  be  con- 
servative.     They  commenced  annoying  the  old  man  by 
stealing  his  chickens,  vegetables,  &c.      They  came  to  his 
houe  early  in  the  spring  of  1871,  and  told  him  that  they 
heard  his  house  was   the  headquarters  of  the  colored 
soldiers.      He  told  them  it  was  not  so;  they  had  spent 
one  night  there  only;  that  he  was  from  home  when  they 
came,    and  on   returning  at    night,    found  them  snugly 
quartered  beneath  his   roof;  that  he  had  no  authority 
to  order  them  out,  and  therefore  submitted  quietly  to 
their  company.      The  robbers  then  said,  "You  vote  with 
white  men."        He  replied,  "Yes;  I  have  a  right  to  vote 
as  I  please,  and  that  is  my  choice."      They  accused  him 
of  telling  falsehoods  to  Mr.   J.  M.   McNair  about  them. 
This  he  denied.       Old  Billy  was  badly  frightened,   and 
to  set  him  somewhat  at  ease,    they  told  him  that  they 
would   not   kill   him,    but   intended   giving   him   a  good 
whipping.      A  voice  in   the  dark  said,  "No,  don't  whip 
the  old   man."       Boss  Strong  said,    "Yes,    and  we   will 
take  his  clothes  off  to  do  it."     H.    B.   Lowrie    ordered 
him  whipped  with  his  clothes  on,  which  Boss  did,  whip- 
ping  him  severely.       He    knew  four  of  the  crowd   to  be 
Steve  and  H.  B.  Lowrie  and  the  two  Strongs;  the  other 
three  he  did  not  recognize.      He  had  a  near  neighbor,  a 
negro,  working  on  the  s'ame  plantation,   by  the  name  of 
Ben   Bethea,    who   was  an  avowed  enemy  of  Old  Billy, 
and  who  also  belonged  to  the  robber  clan.      He  was  in- 
strumental  in  having  the   old  fellow    whipped.       Some 
time  during  the  following  winter,   this  Bethea  was  taken 
from  his  house  by   a  company  of  armed   men   and  car- 
ried about  three  miles  off  and  shot.      He  justly  deserved 


THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY.  Ill 

the  punishment  meted  out  to  him.  Not  only  a  co-worker 
with  the  clan,  but  if  any  one  gave  him  the  slightest  cause 
for  offence,  sought  revenge  either  on  their  persons  or 
property  by  carrying  malicious  tales  to  his  confederates 
in  crime,  thus  setting  them  on  to  do  harm  to  the  offen- 
der. He  was  a  native  of  South  Carolina,  and  was  an 
accomplice  in  the  robbing  and  burning  of  the  house  of 
a  widow  lady  in  that  State  soon  after  the  surrender. 
The  authorities  attempted  to  capture  him,  and  he  sought 
refuge  in  Robeson  county,  joining  the  robber  band, 
where  he  was  finally  overtaken,  and  a  just  punishment 
for  his  crimes  awarded  him. 


AN  AGREEMENT  OR  COMPACT  OF  ELEVEN 
YOUNG  MEN  IN  ROBESON  COUNTY. 

In  March,  1871,  a  plan  formed  for  ridding  and  free- 
ing entirely  Robeson  county  of  the  Lowrie  outlaws  was 
entered  into  by  F.  M.  Wishart,  Mudoch  A.  McLean, 
George  L.  McKay,  Frank  McKay,  John  A.  McKay,  W. 
H.  McCallum,  J.  Douglas  McCallum,  Archie  D.  McCal- 
lum,  Archie  J.  McFadyen,  Malcom  McNeill,  (Greeley) 
and  Faulk  J.  Floyd,  and  persistently  carried  out.  Arm- 
ing themselves  with  navy  revolvers,  Spencer,  Henry  and 
Winchester  guns,  .they  immediately  entered  on  the  cam- 
paign, and  went  forth  to  hunt  the  outlaws  in  their 
swampy  retreats  and  fastnesses  in  Scuffletown,  deter- 
mined to  kill  or  be  killed  — determined  to  vindicate  the 
name  and  fame  of  their  native  county.  These  brave 
spirits  under  all  the  discouraging  circumstances  which 
surrounded  them,  stood  the  stalwart  braves  of  our  coun- 
ty, like  Warsaw's  last  champion. 


112  THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY. 

"Oh  heavens  !  they  said,  Our  bleeding  Country  save, 
Is  there  no  hand  on  high  to  shield  the  brave? 

What  though  destruction  sweeps  these  lovely  plains, 
Rise,  fellow-men  !  Our  country  yet  remains; 

By  that  dread  name,  we  wave  the  sword  on  high, 
And  swear  for  her  to  live,  for  her  to  die". 

This  was  a    "dark  and  doleful  period"   in  the  history 
of  Robeson  county.      Some  of  our  best  citizens  had  been 
forced  to  leave  the  county  simply  because  they  had  ta- 
ken a  part  in   ferreting  out  these   outlaws.      Our  young 
men  and  old  men  had  been  branded  abroad  as  a  set  of 
cowards;   we   had   become  a   bye-word  and  a  reproach 
among  our  sister  counties;  we   had  been  considered  by 
the  outer  world  as  colleagues   with   them  in   their  mur- 
ders, arsons,  treason   and  rebellion.      No   people  in  any 
country  have  been  so  abused  and  villified  as  the  citizens 
of  Robeson  county,  simply  because  they  did  not  rise  up 
and  extirpate  the  Lowrie  gang.      Few  men  would  have 
essayed  to  do  what  these  noble,  heroic   men  attempted; 
few  men  would  have  gone  forth  voluntarily  as  they  did 
and  encountered  the  perils  to  which  they  were  exposed 
by  day   and  by  night;  often   were  they    wearied,    often 
did   they   suffer  from   hunger,    from   thirst,  from  weary 
limbs,   aching    heads,  wet  clothes,   cold,   frost,  heat;  yet 
on  they  went  tramp,  tramp,  through  midnight  darkness, 
through  rain,  sunshine,  through  the  almost    impenetra- 
ble bays  and  swamps  of  Scuffletown,    encountering  the 
frowns  of  the  Indian,  the  hisses  of  the   negro   race,    and 
sometimes  the  scowls  of  a   few   of  the    white   race    who 
had  blaqk  hearts  ;  often  they  were  ridiculed,  slurred  and 
censured,    yet   they   braved   all  with  courage  and  forti- 
tude without  being  moved.      On  the   8th   of  April   they 
saw  at  a  distance   the  whole  of  the   outlaw  gang,    who, 


THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY.  113 

on  perceiving  them,  made  off  precipitately  into  the  low 
grounds  of  Lumber  River.  On  the  following  Saturday 
night  these  brave  and  intrepid  men  met  again  at  Plain- 
view.  Owing  to  sickness  and  other  causes  only  five  of 
them  reported,  viz:  George  L.  McKay,  Franklin  Mc- 
Kay, W.  H.  McCallum,  Archie  D.  McCallum  and  J. 
Douglas  McCallum;  after  consultation  they  determined, 
however,  to  go  to  the  house  of  the  notorious  outlaw, 
George  Applewhite,  dark  as  the  night  was,  and  wait  the 
dawn  of  day,  which  was  to  be  the  Sabbath.  Stationing 
themselves  near  his  residence,  on  a  path  leading  across 
the  Juniper  in  the  direction  of  the  Carolina  Central  Rail- 
way, they  remained  there  until  4  o'clock  p.  m.,  when,  to 
their  surprise,  they  saw  George  Applewhite  proceeding  di- 
rectly towards  them(all  was  confusion  for  a  few  moments), 
whenW.  H.  McCallum  fired  upon  him  from  a  distance  not 
more  than  twenty  paces,  the  load  taking  effect  in  the  neck 
of  the  outlaw;  he  returned  the  fire  simultaneously,  turn- 
ing his  back,  however.  Frank  McKay  fired  on  him, 
his  load  taking  effect  in  his  back.  George  L.  McKay 
and  J.  Douglas  McCallum,  hearing  the  clash  of  arms, 
rose  up  and  also  fired  on  him  when  near  the  edge  of  the 
swamp.  Here  he  reeled  and  fell.  Fearing  that  the  en- 
tire outlaw  gang  was  near  at  hand,  these  young  men  left 
the  blood-stained  spot,  not,  however,  before  they  picked 
up  a  sack  containing  a  hat  and  a  pair  of  shoes,  dropped 
by  the  outlaw,  also  the  hat  he  had  on  when  shot.  Send- 
ing a  messenger  to  Lumberton  after  the  Sheriff  in  order 
to  deliver  the  body  of  the  outlaw  to  him,  they  separated 
for  the  night.  Returning  in  the  morning  with  the  Sheriff 
and  some  other  gentlemen,  the  body  of  George  Apple- 


114  THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY 

white  could  nowhere  be  found,  the  other  outlaws  hav- 
ing removed  him  during  the  night. 

He  was  not  killed,  as  was  subsequently  learned,  but 
was  seriously  wounded,  and  was  kept  concealed  until 
his  wounds  healed  so  that  he  could  travel,  when  he 
slipped  away  from  the  county,  not  even  his  comrades, 
the  outlaws  knowing,  his  intention.  But  he  made  good 
his  escape.  Subsisting  on  fruit  and  watermelons  until 
beyond  Fayetteville,  where  he  was  less  afraid  of  being 
recognized,  he  began  to  ask  for  work  and  food.  Finally 
he  reached  Goldsboro,  where  he  remained  for  several 
months — when  his  whereabouts  was  discovered.  He 
was  again  arrested  and  placed  in  "VVhiteville  jail,  was 
tried  and  acquitted  under  the  "Amnesty  Act."  Thus 
was  the  gallows  cheated,  and  he  whose  hand  was  stain- 
ed with  the  blood  of  the  good  and  honorable  and  aged 
citizens  of  our  cDuntry,  given  life  and  liberty.  Alas  !  for 
justice. 

It. will  be  remembered  that  George  Applewhite  was 
outlawed  for  killing  ex-Sheriff  King,  for  which  crime  he 
was  twice  tried  and  condemned  to  be  hanged,  but  his 
counsel  taking  an  appeal  to  the  Supreme  Court,  he  es- 
caped from  jail  and  returned  to  his  former  haunts  and 
depredation,  where  he  was  wounded:  and  from  whence 
he  escaped  to  Goldsboro. 

After  the  wounding  of  George  Applewhite  by  these 
young  men  the  bandts  became  more  wary.  The  hunt 
for  them,  however,  was  still  kept  up  by  Geo.  L.  McKay, 
Frank  McKay,  J.  D.  McCallum,  A.  D.  McCallum,  F.  M. 
Wishart,  M.  McNeill,  Archie  McFadyen  and  F.  J.  Floyd, 
assisted  occasionally  by  Rod.  McMillan  and  A.  M.  Mc- 
Lean. From  sheer  fatigue  they  became  exhausted,  and 
on  the  last  day  of  June   they   came   out   of    Scuffletown, 


THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY.  115 

and  the  County  Commissioners  called  out  ten  men  in 
each  Township  to  serve  one  week  by  turns,  and  placed 
the  same  men  under  command  of  F.  M.  Wishart,  mith 
headquarters  at  Buie's  Store  in  the  heart  of  Scuffletown. 
F.  M.  Wishart  entered  on  the  duty  assigned  him  on 
the  8th  of  July  following,  and  kept  up  the  pursuit  of  the 
outlaws  unremittedly.  On  the  10th  of  July  several  per- 
sons suspected  of  harboring  and  sympathizing  with  the 
outlaws  were  arrested  by  order  of  the  Sheriff,  includ- 
ing the  wives  of  H.  B.  Lowrie,  George  Applewhite  and 
Andrew  Strong.  The  party  who  arrested  the  wives 
of  the  outlaws  were  fired  on  from  an  ambuscade  by  the 
outlaws  when  near  Buie's  Store,  immediately  on  the  rail- 
way, and  Archibald  A.  McMillan  was  instantly  killed, 
and  Archibald  Brown  and  Hector  McNeill  were  mortal- 
ly wounded,  from  the  effects  of  which  they  died  next 
morning.  Berry  Barnes  and  Alex.  Brown  were  also 
slightly  wounded.  Notwithstanding  these  casualties  the 
other  four  men  returned  the  fire  and  caused  the  outlaws 
to  retreat  to  the  woods.  They  carried  the  prisoners  in 
triumph  and  delivered  them  to  Col.  F.  M.  Wishart.  On 
the  same  evening  the  outlaws  engaged  a  company  of 
men  under  Capt.  Charles  McRae,  at  a  point  on  Lumber 
River  known  as  "Wire-Grass  Landing,"  about  5  o'clock 
p.  m. 


THE  FIGHT  AT  WIRE  GRASS  LANDING. 

On  the  morning  of  the  10th  of  July,  1871,  a  company 
of  the  militia  called  out  by  the  Sheriff,  consisting  of  four- 
teen men  from  Alfordsville  and  Thompson  townships, 
reported  to  Capt.  Wishart  for  duty  at  Buie's  Store. 
They  were  ordered  to  go  to  the  house  of  Andrew  Strong 


116  THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY. 

and  arrest  his  wife  and  carry  her  to  a  point  on  the  road 
leading  from  Harper's  Ferry  to  Red  Banks  Bridge, 
where  they  were  to  meet  a  party  that  had  been  sent  to 
arrest  the  wives  of  Henry  B.  Lowrie  and  others  of  the 
outlaws.  They  arrested  Andrew  Strong's  wife  and 
proceeded  with  her  to  the  point  designated,  where  they 
waited  several  hours  for  the  party  that  was  to  convey 
her  to  headquarters,  which,  through  a  misunderstanding, 
had  gone  another  way.  During  the  afternoon,  as  the 
party  did  not  arrive,  the  Captain  detailed  four  men 
from  the  company  to  escort  her  to  said  destination. 
The  ten  men  that  were  left  then  proceeded  to  Wire 
Grass  Landing,  on  Lumber  River,  below  Harper's  Fer- 
ry Bridge.  A  short  time  after  they  reached  this  place 
they  heard  talking  near  by,  and  soon  discovered  that  it 
was  a  party  in  a  boat  on  the  river,  and  they  were  com- 
ing towards  them.  "When  they  reached  a  point  about 
seventy-five  yards  above  the  landing,  they  stopped. 
They  heard  them  wading  in  the  water,  and  knew  that 
some  of  the  party  had  left  the  boat.  After  remaining 
very  quiet  for  some  time,  the  canoe  again  started  down 
the  river,  which,  on  making  a  short  bend,  was  clearly  in 
view.  H.  B.  Lowrie  was  the  only  occupant  of  the 
boat,  and  as  he  was  greeted  by  a  volley  from  the  guns 
of  the  militia,  he  sprang  into  the  water,  keeping  the  canoe 
between  him  and  the  enemy  as  a  kind  of  portable 
breast-work.  His  firing  was  harmless,  as  was  much 
from  the  random  shooting  of  those  in  the  bushes.  (Those 
of  the  party  that  had  gotten  out  of  the  boat  were  con- 
cealed in  the  bushes).  There  were  four  mulattoes  with 
the  militia;  on  opening  fire  they  ran,  but  when  ordered 
back  obeyed  and  behaved  very  quietly  throughout  the 
fight.      The  post  was  held  by  the  militia  until  their  am- 


THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY.  117 

munition  was  exhausted  and  the  command  given  to  retire. 
In  this  fight  Mr.  Duncan  McCormick  and  Charles  Smith 
were  wounded,  though  not  seriously.  The  damage 
done  to  the  outlaws  could  not  be  ascertained. 

On  the  14th  of  July  following  the  Lowrie  bandits 
went  to  the  r3sidence  of  Mr.  John  McNair  and  behaved 
very  insultingly,  although  Mr.  McNair,  previous  to  this 
feud,  had  often  treated  them  very  kindly,  frequently 
selling  them  corn  and  meat  on  a  credit  and  waiting  pa- 
tiently for  his  pay.  On  this  day,  however,  they  ordered 
Mr.  McNair  to  write  the  following  note: 

Mr.  James  Sinclair  :  If  our  wives  are  not  released 
and  sent  home  by  next  Monday  morning  there  will  be 
worse  times  in  Robeson  county  than  there  ever  has  been 
yet.  We  will  commence  and  drench  the  county  in 
blood  and  ashes. 

(     H.  B.  LOWRIE, 
Signed         STEVE  LOWRIE, 
(     ANDREW  STRONG. 

They  then  ordered  Mr.  McNair  to  hitch  his  horse  to 
his  buggy  and  proceed  with  it  to  Lumberton  and  deliver 
it  to  James  Sinclair,  whi:h  Mr.  McNair  did,  leaving  no 
white  person  on  the  place  except  his  wife  (Mrs.  McNair), 
Arriving  at  Lumberton  about  10  o'clock  a.  m.,  Mr.  Mc- 
Nair delivered  the  note  to  James  Sinclair,  who,  after 
reading  it,  directed  him  to  hand  it  to  the  Sheriff,  which 
he  did,  and  after  the  Sheriff  read  it,  he  told  Mr.  McNair 
to  inform  the  outlaws  that  the  people  of  Robeson  county 
were  not  to  be  tampered  with  in  that  way,  and  driven 
by  mere  threats  into  measures  by  these  outlaws,  and  the 
white  men  of  Robeson  in  all  time  to  come  branded  as  cow- 
ards. Mr.  McNair  returned  and  met  the  outlaws  about 
three  miles  below  his  residence,  on  the  road  to  Lumber- 


118  THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY. 

ton,  and  delivered  the  message  of  the  Sheriff  to  them, 
which  they  received  with  a  dark,  ominous  scowl,  but 
offered  no  violence  to  Mr.  McNair. 

On  Monday  following,  quite  a  number  of  the  old  grey- 
headed citizens  of  Robeson  county  went  to  Lumberton 
and  held  a  consultation  with  the  Sheriff  and  County 
Commissioners,  and  the  conclusion  arrived  at  was,  that 
taking  all  things  into  consideration,  it  was  probably  best 
to  release  the  wives  of  the  outlaws  and  send  them  home, 
inasmuch  as  they  (the  wives)  were  not  responsible  for  the 
acts  of  their  husbands,  and  also  because  it  was  believed 
at  the  time  that  their  release  would  have  a  good  effect 
on  the  rest  of  the  Indian  race.  They  were  therefore 
released  and  sent  home  next  day. 

The  next  week  following,  Adjutant-General  Gorman 
appeared  on  the  scene  of  action  with  part  of  a  company 
of  Federal  soldiers,  asking  the  county  of  Robeson  for  an 
equal  number  of  volunteers  to  co-operate  with  him  in 
capturing  the  outlaws,  when  the  following  named  gen- 
tlemen responded  to  the  call:  F.  M.  Wishart,  Colonel; 
James  Nicholson  McLean,  Captain;  J.  C.  McKellar,  First 
Lieutenant;  James  McBryde,  Second  Lieutenant;  John 
S.  McNeill,  Third  Lieutenant;  and  the  following  privates: 
Henry  McCallum,  J.  T.  McCormic,  A.  A.  McGirt,  C.  Mc- 
Rae,  E.  C.  McNeill,  Gilchrist  McGirt,  Daniel  McKenzie, 
James  McQueen,  Archie  McDonald,  James  McGoogan, 
Alexander  McGirt,  Malcom  McNeill  (Greely),  Samuel 
Barnes,  John  Cobb,  Henry  Biggs,  Frank  Currie,  Joseph 
Phillips,  Archie  Johnson,  Duncan  Campbell,  Daniel 
Campbell,  Thomas  Purcell,  W.  C.  Smith. 

These  men  remained  with  Adjutant-General  Gorman 
in  Scuffletown  two  months,  and  were  disbanded  without 
capturing  a  single  outlaw,   simply   because  the  outlaws 


THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY.  119 

evaded  them  on  all  occasions.  The  volunteers  gener- 
ally, and  the  true  men  of  Robeson  county  believed  at 
the  time,  and  believe  to  this  day,  that  the  Adjutant-Gen- 
eral of  the  State  was  in  collusion  with  the  outlaws,  as 
was  every  negro  in  the  county.  Thus  terminated  this 
campaign  of  Adjutant-General  Gorman,  without  accom- 
plishing anything;  in  the  mean  time,  however,  the  pred- 
atory warfare  on  the  part  of  the  outlaws  went  on  with- 
out any  cessation,  robbing  whom  they  pleased  and  when 
they  pleased,  depleting  the  whole  country  around  Scuf- 
fletown  of  guns  and  pistols,  and  whatever  else  they  saw 
fit  to  take;  turning  the  heads  of  the  Indians  and  prompt- 
ing negro  imitators;  and  training  up  the  very  children 
of  Scuffletown  to  be  barbarians,  with  the  lust  for  plun- 
der and  rapine.  Indeed,  after  the  failure  of  Gen.  Gor- 
man to  capture  them,  the  outlaws  showed  more  desper- 
ation than  ever;  they  seemed  to  fear  nothing,  whilst 
they  showed  a  ferocity,  premeditation  and  insolence 
frightful  to  behold;  spreading  terror  and  dismay  wher- 
ever they  saw  fit  to  go;  no  one  not  an  inhabitant  of  the 
county  at  the  time  can  realize  the  situation;  nearly  all 
of  our  citizens,  with  here  and  there  an  honorable  excep- 
tion, seemed  terror-stricken  and  dumb  with  dismay,  for 
they  did  not  know  at  what  hour  the  Lowrie  bandits 
would  pounce  down  on  them  like  an  eagle  on  his  prey, 
and  murder  some  male  member  of  the  family  for  some 
imaginary  wrong,  or  take  away  from  them  their  hard 
earnings. 

Here  we  will  relate  an  incident  that  occurred  "not  a 
hundred  miles"  from  Ashpole  Presbyterian  church  to 
J.  C.  McKellar  and  the  squad  of  men  under  him  (some 
twelve  in  number):  Lieutenant  J.  C.  McKellar  and  his 
men  met   on  the  road  a   well-to-do  farmer  and  informed 


120  THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY. 

him  that  he  and  his  squad  were  going  to  his  house  for 
their  dinner;  this  well-to-do  farmer  told  Mr.  McKellar 
and  his  men  to  go  directly  to  his  kitchen  and  order  his 
cook,  a  negress,  to  prepare  dinner  for  them,  so  that  it 
might  be  told  to  the  outlaws  that  he  was  forced  to  feed 
the  men  that  were  hunting  them.  J.  C.  McKellar  and 
his  men  were  incensed  at  the  conduct  of  this  well-to-do 
farmer,  but  concluded,  in  order  to  retaliate  on  him,  to 
do  as  he  had  directed.  So  they  went  and  ordered  this 
man's  cook  to  fix  up  dinner  for  them,  which,  after  being 
fixed  up,  they  ate  with  a  gusto,  and  even  to  this  day 
when  this  circumstance  is  referred  to,  the  men  who  par- 
took of  that  dinner  will  laugh  about  the  cowardice  of 
this  well-to-do  farmer,  and  say:  "Well,  he  won't  do  to 
tie  to  in  a  storm". 


THE  KILLING  OF  GILES  INMAN. 

On.  the  21st  of  April,  1871,  the  Sheriff  of  the  county, 
viz:  Rod.  McMillan,  in  connection  with  F.  M.  Wishart, 
Archie  D.  McCallu'm,  J.  Douglas  McCallum,  Franklin 
McKay,  George  L.  McKay,  Archie  McFadyen  and  Mal- 
com  McNeill,  surrounded  H.  B.  Lowrie's  house,  when, 
to  their  surprise,  it  was  ascertained  that  the  whole  out- 
law band  were  within.  After  consultation,  it  was 
deemed  prudent  and  wise  that  the  Sheriff  and  Frank 
McKay  should  go  and  hunt  up  recruits  to  capture  the 
whole  outlaw  gang.  The  Sheriff  and  Mr.  McKay  im- 
mediately set  out  on  their  errand,  and  coming  to  the 
house  of  Mr.  Hugh  Inman,  on  Lumber  River,  about 
three  miles  from  H.  B.  Lowrie's,  his  two  sons,  Robert 
and  Giles  Inman,  went  back  with  Mr.  McKay  to  the  as- 
sistance of  the  men  left  at  H.  B.  Lowrie's  house.      In  the 


THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY.  121 

meantime,  H.  B.  Lowrie  and  the  other  outlaws  made 
their  escape  through  a  "trap  door  and  a  tunnel",  dug 
some  distance  from  the  house  of  H.  B.  Lowrie,  as  was 
afterwards  ascertained;  and  they  (the  outlaws)  throw- 
ing themselves  back  on  the  road  which  they  supposed 
would  be  traveled  by  the  Sheriff  on  his  return,  ambus- 
caded the  recruits  as  they  were  crossing  the  Back  Swamp 
and  fired  on  them,  killing  instantly  Mr.  Giles  Inman,  a. 
youth  aged  eighteen  years,  and  wounded  Mr.  Frank 
McKay.  Mr.  McKay  returned  the  fire.  Thus  fell 
another  victim  of  their  relentless  fury  and  vindictive- 
ness.  Mr.  Inman  was  a  resolute  youth,  and  was  anx- 
ious to  apprehend  these  lawless  marauders.  His  father, 
Mr  Hugh  Inman,  was  a  Republican  in  politics.  Some 
time  after  this  occurrence.  H.  B.  Lowrie  informed  Mr. 
Inman  that  he  was  sorry  that  he  had  killed  his  son  Giles 
(and  well  he  might  be);  but  this  was  only  adding  insult 
to  injury.  It  was  the  sorrow  which  the  lion  has  for  the 
lamb  when  in  his  power. 


THE  MURDER  OF  MURDOCH  A.  McLEAN  AND 
HIS  BROTHER  HUGH  McLEAN— ALSO  THE 
WOUNDING  OF  ARCHIE  D.   McCALLUM. 

The  murder  of  the  two  brothers,  Murdoch  A.  McLean 
and  Hugh  McLean,  was  committed  on  the  morning  of 
July  17th,  1871,  on  the  public  road,  one  mile  south  of 
Maxton,  on  the  Carolina  Central  Railway,  near  a  mill 
on  Black  Branch,  in  full  view  of  the  residence  of  Mrs. 
Margaret  McLean.  This  feat  was  achieved  after  long 
and  cool  deliberation  on  the  part  of  the  outlaws.  They 
had  often  essayed  to  kill  Murdoch  A.  McLean,  and  had 
as  often  failed  in  their  purpose.      Several  times  they  had 


122  THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY. 

waylaid  him;  several  times  they  had  lurked  about  the 
premises  of  his  mother  in  the  darkness  of  the  night,  but 
all  to  no  purpose.  Early  on  the  morning  of  the  17th 
Hugh  McLean  carried  his  sister  to  the  residence  of  Mr. 
M.  C.  McNair  in  an  open  buggy.  On  his  return  home, 
Murdoch  A.  McLean  and  Archie  D.  McCallum  jumped 
up  into  the  buggy  with  Hugh  and  started  off  for  Maxton 
to  hunt  the  robber  band.  As  the  trio  rode  along  about 
three  hundred  yards  from  the  residence  of  Mrs.  Margaret 
McLean  they  heard  the  rough  word,  "halt!"  Almost 
instantly  a  gun  was  snapped  at  close  quarters,  from  be- 
hind a  "blind,"  by  Henry  Berry  Lowrie.  Murdoch  A. 
McLean  reached  for  his  arms,  but  before  he  could  bring 
his  gun  to  bear,  he  was  riddled  with  buck-shot,  and  his 
brother  Hugh  mortally  wounded,  the  horse  in  the  buggy 
galloping  off  with  the  lifeless  remiins  of  the  two  brothers. 
In  the  killing  of  Murdoch  A.  McLean,  Henry  Berry 
Lowrie  shed  the  blood  of  one  of  the  noblest  youthful 
spirits  in  our  country;  indeed,  he  was  a  superb  specimen 
of  the  "Bonnie  Scotch." 

"None  knew  him  but  to  love  him, 
None  named  him  but  to  praise." 

He  was  in  his    thirty-first  year  of  age   when  he  fell, 
honored,  esteemed  and  loved  by  all  who  knew  him    for 
the  many  noble  traits  of  character.      Peace  to  his  ashes  ! 

But  what  shall  we  pen  in  regard  to  innocent  Hugh 
McLean,  who  was  also  killed  at  the  same  time?  Alas! 
my  pen  falters — my  hand  trembles,  when  I  recall  this 
double  murder!  Innocent  Hugh  was  in  the  twentieth 
year  of  his  age,  and  bid  fair  to  become  as  noble  and 
generous  a  man  as  his  brother  Murdoch  had  been. 

Archie  D.  McCallum,  who  was  riding  in  the  buggy 
with  the  two  brothers,   sprang  out  on  the  ground,  and  in 


THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY  123 

doing  so,  his  pistol  fell  out  of  its  case;  he,  however,  had 
the  coolness  to  stoop  down  and  pick  it  up,  and  then  to 
run,  for  he  saw  the  whole  outlaw  gang  were  at  hand, 
and  knew  if  he  remained  that  they  would  murder  him 
also.  He  had  not  proceeded  far  when  he  was  fired  on 
and  wounded  in  his  leg,  but  he  made  good  his  escape  to 
Maxton,  although  pursued  by  two  of  the  gang  to  within 
a  few  hundred  yards  of  the  depot.  When  the  news  of 
the  occurrence  spread  abroad,  the  wildest  consternation 
seemed  to  seize  many  of  the  good  citizens  of  Robeson 
county.  All  was  confusion.  "What  to  do  next  was  the 
main  question. 


COL.   FRANK  M.   WISHART. 

High  on  the  "roll  of  honor"  in  the  county  of  Robeson 
stands  the  name  of  Col.  Frank  M.  Wishart — a  man  that 
would  be  noticed  in  any  crowd  on  account  of  his  showy 
appearance.  He  was  an  old  Confederate  officer,  and 
served  throughout  the  war  between  the  States  with 
credit  to  himself  and  honor  to  his  native  county.  He  was 
a  Republican  in  politics,  and  the  only  Republican  in  the 
county  of  Robeson  of  any  distinction  who  could  or  did 
rise  superior  to  party  politics  and  take  the  side  of  bleed- 
ing, suffering  hummtty.  He  possessed  true  nobleness  of 
mind  and  a  lofty  magnanimity  of  character,  and  through 
"evil  report  as  well  as  good,"  he  bore  himself  with  dig- 
nity and  disinterestedness,  fearless  of  danger  to  his  per- 
son or  reputation.  All  honor  to  Frank  M.  Wishart  for 
his  noble  example  —  all  honor  to  his  name  for  his  exalted 
patriotism.  True  to  his  natural  instincts,  he  joined  the 
compact  of  those  eleven  sjlf-sacrificng  men  who  deter- 
mined to  rid   Robeson  county  of  the  Lowrie  cutlaws  or 


124  THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY. 

die  in  the  attempt.  He  entered  this  compact  early  in 
February,  in  the  year  1871,  and  worked  assiduously  for 
the  capture  of  the  outlaws  until  he  fell  a  victim  to  their 
treachery  on  the   16th  day  of  May,  A.   D.  1872,   in  the 

year  of  his  age.      He  met  his  sad  and    melancholy 

fate  on  the  main  road  leading  from  Lumberton  to  Rock- 
ingham, in  Richmond  county,  about  one  and  a  half  miles 
from  Lebanon  Presbyterian  Church,  on  the  south  side 
of  Lumber  River,  and  about  two  miles  from  Red  Banks 
bridge,  whither  he  had  gone  alone  to  have  an  interview 
with  the  oulaws,  in  accordance  with  an  agreement  made 
with  them  at  Moss  Neck  on  the  previous  Friday,  as  the 
following  particulars  will  delineate,  taken  from  the  Robe- 
sonian  (newspaper)  on  May  23rd,  1872: 

"We  are  enabled  to  present  some  interesting  particu- 
lars of  the  interview  of  Col.  F.  M.  Wishart  with  the 
outlaws  at  Moss  Neck,  a  few  days  before  his  assassina- 
tion by  them.  On  Friday  before  his  death,  Col.  Wish- 
art  was  aboard  the  regular  through  freight  train,  which 
arrived  at  Moss  Neck  at  3  o'clock  p.  m.,  and  was  at  that 
time  occupying  a  seat  in  the  conductor's  cab  in  rear  of 
the  train.  Soon  after  the  train  halted,  the  two  outlaws, 
Andrew  Strong  and  Stephen  Lowrie,  approached  the 
car  and  recognized  Col.  Wishart,  and  accosted  him  in  a 
civil  and  friendly    way.  Stephen    Lowrie    inquired 

whether  he  had  any  arms,  and  went  aboard  the  cab  to 
satisfy  himself  on  that  point,  Andrew  Strong  remaining 
on  the  piazza  of  the  store,  within  a  few  feet  of  the  train. 
Andrew  was  in  his  shirt-sleeves  and  wore  only  one  pistol 
in  his  belt,  but  Stephen  carrie  in  his  hand  a  Spencer  rifle 
and  in  his  belt  five  elegant  pistols  —two  Derringers,  one 
Smith  &  Wesson  and  two  Colt's.  On  entering  the  car,  Ste- 
phen demanded  to  see  his  arms,  when  Col.  Wishart  drew 


THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY.  125 

aside  the  skirt  of  his  coat  and  displayed  the  handle  of  a 
repeater,  which  he  assured  the  outlaw  was  the  only 
weapon  he  carried.  Stephen  at  once  made  a  grab  at 
the  pistol,  as  if  to  snatch  it  from  its  place, but  Col.  "Wish- 
art  foiled  this  attempt  by  dexterously  leaping  from  the 
car  to  the  piazza  of  the  store,  where  the  other  outlaw 
was  standing,  and,  confronting  Stephen,  who  was  stand- 
ing in  the  door  of  the  car  from  which  he  had  just  escap- 
ed, stood  with  his  hand  upon  his  pistol.  Stephen  and 
Andrew  both  now  assured  him  that  they  meant  him  no 
harm,  and  only  wished  a  friendly  conference,  and  at 
Andrew's  request,  he  walked  with  him  behind  the  store, 
where  they  remained  for  sometime  in  conversation, 
while  Stephen  remained  on  board  the  car,  and  seemed 
to  take  no  interest  in  what  was  passing  between  his  com- 
rade and  Col.  Wishart.  As  the  train  was  about  to  move 
off,  Co!.  Wishart  returned  to  the  car,  and  meeting 
Stephen  on  the  platform,  the  latter  was  heard  to  say: 
'When  I  send  for,  you  come.  I'll  send  a  friend  for  you 
in  a  few  days,  and  you  come  and  meet  us,'  and  Col. 
Wishart  promised  to  do  so. 

The  rest  of  this  strange,  sad  story  with  its  melancholy, 
tragic  end,  is  but  too  well  known.  On  Thursday  morn- 
ing next,  after  this  interview,  a  messenger — who  it  was 
nobody  knows,  or  ever  will  know,  bore  to  Col.  Wishart, 
at  Maxton,  the  summons  which  led  him  away  to  his 
death.  True  to  his  word,  he  prepared  to  obey,  and 
saddling  his  mule,  he  rode  directly,  unarmed  and  alone, 
to  the  spot  named  by  the  messenger.  What  occurred 
was  witnessed  by  no  human  eye  besides  those  of  the  ac- 
tors in  the  fearful  tragedy;  but  in  the  afternoon  of  the 
same  day,  a  citizen  of  the  neighborhood  was  horrified  by 
the   discovery   of  the  body  of  the  gallant  Wishart,    all 


126  THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY. 

stark  and  stiff  and  covered  with  gore,  lying  by  the  road- 
side. Two  hideous,  gaping  wounds,  one  through  the 
body  and  the  other  through  the  head,  showed  how 
foully  he  had  been  murdered.  The  mule  on  which  he 
rode  stood  fastened  t3  a  limb  near  by,  and  appearances 
showed  that  when  shot  he  was  reclining  on  the  earth 
whittling  the  end  of  a  small  stick  and  unsuspecting  of 
danger.  It  is  probable  that  these  treacherous  and  cow- 
ardly fiends  had  concealed  themselves  in  ambush  near 
the  spot,  and  the  first  intimation  he  had  of  their  presence 
were  the  two  shots  that  hurled  his  brave,  unsuspecting 
soul  into  eternity. 


JAMES  McQUEEN,  alias  donahoe. 

Of  all  the  men  that  have  essayed  to  exterminate  the 
Robeson  outlaws,  none  have  been  more  persevering  than 
James  McQueen,  or  Donahoe,  as  he  is  sometimes  called. 
Slim  and  slender  in  form,  peculiar  and  eccentric  in  man- 
ners, so  much  so  that  persons  unacquainted  with  him 
look  upon  him  at  times  as  somewhat  wild  and  romantic, 
quick  in  movement,  showing  agility  and  determination  in 
every  motion,  about  six  feet  high,  with  a  small  piercing 
gray  eye,  without  much  expression  of  countenance,  he  is 
the  very  personification  of  a  gawky  Scotchman,  in  his 
twenty-fifth  year  of  age,  a  native  of  Richmond  county, 
N.  C.  After  reaching  maturity,  or  becoming  twenty- 
one  years  old,  he  left  Mr.  Donahoe  in  Richmond  county, 
the  gentleman  who  raised  him,  and  after  working  a  while 
in  South  Carolina,  for  wages,  he  purchased  first  a 
double-barreled  shot  gun  and  ammunition,  and  wended 
his  way  to  Robeson  county,  going  from  house  to  house 
and  telling  the  people  that  he  wished  to  buy  a  tract  of 


THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY.  127 

land,  and  would  sometimes  examine  tracts  that  were  of- 
fered for  sale,  and  then  decline  purchasing  on  the  ground 
that  the  price  was  too  high;  sometimes,  too,  he  would  of- 
fer to  lease  from  some  farmer  a  one-horse  farm,  &c.  In 
this  way  he  became  acquainted  with  the  people  of  Rob- 
eson and  found  out  all  about  the  Lowrie  outlaws,  and 
who  were  their  friends  and  who  were  their  enemies — 
in  this  way.  too,  he  found  out  who  were  the  true  men  of 
the  county,  who  would  do  to  trust  or  confide  in  and  not 
betray  him  —  he  found  out  also  the  roads  and  by-paths 
of  Scufnetown — he  sometimes  would  go  with  one  com- 
pany that  were  hunting  the  outlaws  in  Scuffletown,  and 
sometimes  with  another — his  comrades,  however,  invari- 
ably found  him  reliable,  always  at  his  post,  never 
sleepy  or  drowsy,  very  particular  where  he  went,  and 
when  and  how.  At  last  he  took  to  going  into  Scufnetown 
solitary  and  alone  in  the  dead  hours  of  the  night  along 
by-paths  and  on  roads  that  were  not  much  traveled, 
and  when  he  arrived  at  the  place  where  he  wished  to 
watch  for  the  passing  of  the  outlaws,  he  would  ensconce 
himself  in  some  thick  undegrowth  and  remain  as  quiet  as 
a  cat,  watching  for  his  prey  to  come  along.  In  this  way 
he  became  acquainted  with  the  personal  appearance  of 
the  outlaws,  their  arms  and  accoutrements.  After  pur- 
suing the  above  course  for  some  months,  he  furnished 
himself  with  a  Henry  rifle,  and  had  provisions  cooked 
up  to  last  him  three  days,  and  wended  his  way  to  the 
dreary  swamps  of  Scuffletown  on  the  6th  day  of  March, 
A.  D.  1872,  and  on  the  night  following  he  arrived  at  the 
house  of  Andrew  Strong,  on  the  south  side  of  Lumber 
river,  about  one  mile  from  Harper's  Ferry,  and  about 
ten  miles   from   Maxton,    on  the  Carolina  Central  Rail- 


128  THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY. 

way,  and  now  we  will  permit  him  to  tell  his  own  state- 
ment of  the  facts  in  the  case  of  killing  Boss  Strong: 

JAMES  MCQUEEN'S,  OR  DONAHOES'  VERSION  OF  THE  KILL- 
ING  OF  BOSS  STRONG. 

Last  Thursday  night,  March  7th,  I  reached  the  house 
of  Andrew  Strong,  on  the  edge  of  Scuffletown,  about 
ten  miles  from  Maxton,  at  12  o'clock;  I  fixed  a  good 
blind  about  a  hundred  and  fifty  yards  from  the  house, 
and  lying  down  I  watched  the  rest  of  the  night  and  all 
of  the  next  day,  eating  some  provisions  I  had  brought 
aloi.g.  About  half-past  seven  p.  m.,  Friday,  Andrew 
Strong  came  out  of  the  woods,  and  after  stopping  and 
looking  around  him  in  all  directions,  he  went  into  the 
house  and  directly  came  out  and  gave  a  low  call,  when 
Boss  Strong  came  out  of  the  woods  to  the  house;  they 
were  each  armed  with  two  rifles  and  two  or  three  re- 
volvers. A  little  after  8  o'clock,  when  I  thought  they 
would  be  at  supper,  I  slipped  up  to  the  house  and  look- 
ed in  through  the  cat  hole  in  the  door,  as  I  supposed 
they  were  eating  their  supper  by  the  light  on  the  hearth. 
A  Miss  Cummings  was  there,  besides  Flora,  Andrew's 
wife.  I  kept  watching,  until  Boss  laid  down  on  the 
floor  with  his  feet  to  the  fire  and  his  head  towards  me, 
and  commenced  playing  on  a  mouth  harp;  then  I  saw 
my  chance,  and  I  pushed  my  rifle  (a  Henry)  through  the 
cat-hole  until  it  was  not  over  three  feet  from  his  head, 
and  took  a  steady  aim  by  the  light  and  shot;  when  I 
fired  the  women  screamed  and  said  "he's  shot!"  "no,  he 
isn't!''  "yes,  he  is!"  and  I  looked  in  as  quick  as  I  could 
get  my  gun  away.  Boss'  arms  and  legs  had  fallen 
straight  from  his  body,  and  there  was  a  little  movement 


f 


WW       •        ' 

ft 

Iff*  ■         '  V-  ■ 


I  m 


130  THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY. 

of  the  shoulders,  as  if  he  was  trying  to  get  up.  Andrew 
Strong  was  then  standing  in  the  shadow  of  the  chimney 
corner,  and  he  stayed  there  until  I  left.  He  said  to  his 
wife,  "Honey,  you  go  out  and  see  what  it  was, "  and 
opened  the  door  opposite  the  one  I  was  at  and  pushed 
her  out,  but  she  did  not  come  around  to  the  side  where 
I  was,  but  went  in  directly  and  said  there  was  nobody 
about.  He  sent  her  out  again,  telling  her  to  look  in  the 
corners  and  jams;  but  before  she  got  well  out,  he  said, 
"Come  back  honey,  he  was  blowing  on  that  thing  and 
it  busted  and  bio  wed  his  head  off,"  and  directly  after  he 
said,  "My  God,  he's  shot  in  the  head,  and  it  must  have 
come  from  the  cat-hole,"  and  sent  his  wife  out  again; 
then  I  slipped  off.  When  I  returned  the  cat-hole  was 
shut  up  and  the  house  was  all  dark.  I  then  came  back  to 
Maxton,  made  up  a  party  and  went  back  to  the  house  of 
Andrew  Strong;  arriving  there  about  10  o'clock  a.  m. 
on  Saturday,  we  found  Rhoda  Lowrie,  wife  of  Henry 
B.  Lowrie  and  sister  to  Boss  and  Andrew  Strong,  wiping 
up  the  blood  on  the  floor  that  had  issued  from  the  wound 
inflicted  on  Boss  Strong.  There  were  several  women 
present,  but  the  body  of  Boss  Strong  was  nowhere  to  be 
found;  upon  inquiry,  we  ascertained  from  the  women 
present,  that  Steve  Lowrie  and  Andrew  Strong  had  just 
removed  the  remains  of  Boss  Strong  to  some  secluded 
spot,  and  had  threatened  the  women  present,  that  if 
they  watched  them,  in  order  to  see  which  way  they 
went,  that'  they  would  come  back  and  killthem.  So 
I,  and  the  party  that  accompanied  me,  returned  to 
Maxton  the  same  evening,  without  finding  the  body  of 
Boss  Strong. 


The  illustration  on  page  129  is  the  house  where  Boss  Strong  was 
killed.     He  was  the  trusted  comrade  of  Henry  Berry  Lowrie. 


THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY.  131 

The  above  closes  James  McQueen's  statement  in  re- 
gard the  killing  of  the  outlaw,  Boss  Strong.  Subsequent- 
ly it  leaked  out  through  the  women  present  that  Boss 
Strong  was  shot  through  the  head,  and  died  almost  in- 
stantly, and  on  the  oath  of  these  same  women,  the  Leg- 
islature of  North  Carolina,  at  its  session  of  1873-'74, 
passed  a  bill  authorizing  the  State  Treasurer  to  pay  to 
James  McQueen  $5,000  for  killing  Boss  Strong. 

Boss  Strong  was  the  youngest  of  the  gang  of  the  out- 
laws, and  was  the  most  trusted  and  inseperable  compan- 
ion of  Henry  Berry  Lowrie,  his  brother-in-law.  He  was 
only  in  his  twentieth  year  when  killed.  He  was  nearly 
white,  with  dark,  short-cut  hair  that  had  somewhat  of  a 
reddish  tinge,  slightly  curling.  A  thick  down  appeard 
on  his  lips,  but  otherwise  he  was  beardless.  He  had 
that  dull,  bluish  eye  belonging  to  all  Scuffietonians  gen- 
erally, and  was  generally  silent  and  taciturn,  but  he  had 
the  demon  in  him,  and  when  aroused,  he  had  a  dogged, 
determined  look.  He  had  the  courage  of  a  bull-pup, 
and  next  to  Henry  Berry  Lowrie,  the  leader,  was  re- 
garded as  the  worst  of  the  party.  His  hands  were  dyed 
deep  in  the  blood  of  bothold  and  young.  He  was  about 
five  feet  ten  inches  high,  thick  set,  with  a  full  face  and 
would  weigh  one  hundred  and  sixty-five  pounds.  Like 
his  leader,  he  generally  killed  at  close  quarters,  seldom  at 
more  than  five  to  ten  yards.  He  met  up  with  his  match 
though,  when  James  McQueen  fired  at  him  through  the 
cat-hole  with  his  Henry  rifle.  After  James  McQueen 
killed  Boss  Strong,  the  other  outlaws  became  very  shy 
and  were  seldom  seen,  or  heard  of,  for  several  months. 
James  McQueen,  however,  still  kept  up  the  hunt  for 
them,  and  never  desisted  entirely  until  the  last  outlaw 
was  killed.      The  outlaws  dreaded  James  McQueen  more 


132  THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY. 

than  any  other  man  that  ever  took  the  field  against 
them,  and  well  they  might  fear  him,  for  he  moved  about 
almost  as  noiselessly  as  a  cat. 


THE  WISHART  COMPANY  IN  1872. 

After  the  Lowrie  outlaws  had  decoyed  and  slain  in 
cold  blood  the  noble,  and  patriotic  Col.  F.  M.  Wishart, 
they  sent  a  message  to  his  two  brothers,  viz:  A  Strong 
"Wishart  and  Robert  E.  "Wishart  on  the  15th  of  July, 
1872,  to  leave  the  county,  or  they  might  expect  to  be 
killed.  Instead  of  obeying  the  orders  of  the  outlaws,  they 
armed  themselves  with  Spencer  rifles,  and  getting  Mr. 
James  McKay  and  James  Campbell  to  join  them,  they 
set  out  on  the  17th  of  July  for  the  dreary  swamps  of 
Scuffletown,  to  hunt  the  outlaws.  On  the  18th  of  July 
they  were  reliably  informed  that  Tom  Lowrie,  one  of  the 
outlaws,  was  in  the  habit  of  visiting  regularly,  the  house 
of  one  Furney  Prevatt.  They  immediately  wended 
their  way  thither,  and  arriving  there  after  nightfall, 
secrected  themselves  in  the  woods  as  near  as  possible 
without  discovery.  Remaining  there  that  night  and  the 
whole  of  the  next  day  until  after  dark,  they  ventured  up 
nearer  to  the  house  in  order  to  watch  the  movements 
inside.  They  soon  discovered  Tom  Lowrie  come  out 
of  the  house  accompanied  by  a  woman  and  go  into  a 
crib  near  by.  They  also  perceived  that  they  could  not 
kill  the  outlaw  without  endangering  the  life  of  the 
woman;  so  while  waiting  outside,  they  heard  Tom  L.  say 
that  he  intended  to  go  next  day  to  Union  Chapel,  to  a 
public  speaking  that  was  to  come  off  there.  They  then 
withdrew  to  the  woods  and  concluded  that   they  would 


THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY.  133 

endeavor  to  intercept  the  outlaw  on  his  way  to  Union 
ChapeL  Taking  with  them  a  guide,  they  halted  at  a 
point  where  the  main  road  crosses  the  Holly  Swamp. 
Here  they  stationed  themselves,  awaiting  the  dawn  of 
the  morning  of  July  20th.  Lying  in  great  suspense  and 
anxiety,  until  about  8  o'clock  a.  m.,  they  heard  voices 
approaching  them  in  the  direction  of  the  Prevatt  house. 
Sure  enough,  Tom  Lowrie  and  Furney  Prevatt  soon 
made  their  appearance.  Coming  to  the  place  on  the 
road  where  the  Wishart  company  crossed,  the  outlaw 
stopped  to  examine  the  footprints  and  Furney  Prevatt 
walked  on.  After  looking  at  the  footprints  of  A.  S. 
Wishart  and  associates,  the  outlaw  was  heard  to  say 
that  he  "Would  go  to  Union  Chapel  that  day  or  die  in 
the  attempt."  These  were  the  last  words  ever  uttered 
by  Tom  Lowrie,  the  outlaw,  for  just  then  Mr.  James 
McKay  fired  on  him.  Turning  to  run,  Mr.  A.  S.  Wish- 
art  fired  on  him  also,  with  a  Spencer  rifle,  the  ball  pass- 
ing clear  through  his  body.  The  outlaw,  however,  ran 
some  fifty  yards  and  fell  with  a  heavy  groan.  Mr.  A. 
S.  Wishart  procuring  the  assistance  of  Mr.  David  Davis, 
and  pressing  a  wagon  that  was  passing  at  the  time,  re- 
moved the  body  of  the  dead  outlaw  out  of  the  swamp, 
taking  off  of  his  person  three  pistols,  a  Spencer  rifle,  a  gold 
watch,  which  belonged  to  Mr.  John  McNair,  one  hundred 
and  thirty  dollars  in  currency  and  a  Spanish  dollar. 
The  company  placed  the  body  in  a  wagon  and  proceed- 
ed with  it  to  Lumberton,  and  formally  delivered  it  to  the 
Sheriff  of  the  county,  who  paid  them  two  hundred  dol- 
lars, the  amount  of  the  reward  offered  for  his  body, 
dead  or  alive,  by  the  County  Commissioners,  placing 
also  in  their  hands  the  necessary  papers  to  draw 
six    thousand    dollars    out  of  the   State   Treasury,    the 


134  THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY 

amount  offered  for  his  apprehension  by  the  State  au- 
thorities, which  was  promptly  paid  by  the  Treasurer  of 
the  State,  and  equally  divided  between  A.  S.  Wishart, 
R.  E.  "Wishart,  James  McKay,  James  Campbell  and 
David  Davis. 

Thus  passed  away  another  of  the  Lowrie  bandits, 
whose  back  had  been  peppered  once  before  by  Frank 
McKay,  Archie  D.  McCallum,  J.  Douglas  McCallum  and 
others,  but  got  off  with  a  bloody  shirt  sticking  to  his 
back.  Tom  Lowrie  was  thirty-seven  years  of  age  when 
killed;  possessed  broad  shoulders;  a  strong  and  active 
body;  straight  black  hair;  would  weigh  about  180  lbs., 
and  was  five  feet  ten  inches  high.  A  thieving  sneak  he 
was,  capable  of  murder  or  anything  else  mean.  He  had 
a  bluish  gray  eye,  and  when  observed  closely,  a  furtive 
look  that  seemed  to  take  in  the  whole  situation  at  a 
glance.  He  had  been  twice  captured  and  placed  in  jail, 
each  time  making  his  escape;  but  this  time  he  went  to 
"that  bourne  from  whence  no  traveler  returns." 

After  Tom  Lowrie  was  killed,  the  "Wishart"  com- 
pany did  not  cease  in  their  exertions  to  kill  the  remain- 
ing outlaws.  They  remained  in  Scuffletown  all  the 
time,  watching  the  movements  of  the  outlaws.  The  on- 
ly member  that  left  the  company  was  Mr.  James  Camp- 
bell, and  he  left  it  on  account  of  his  health.  Mr.  Frank 
Floyd  took  his  place  and  remained  one  month.  Mr. 
Alf.  Prevatt  took  Mr.  Floyd's  place  and  remained  eight 
months.  Mr.  James  McQueen  staid  also  with  the  com- 
pany three  weeks;  the'  remainder  of  his  time  in  Scuffle- 
town  he  was  alone.  Mr.  A.  C.  Bridgers  was  also  a 
member  of  the  company  for  several  months  in  1872. 
On  the  10th  of  August  A,  McE.  McCallum  joined  the 
Wishart  company,  word  having  been  sent  him  to  leave 


THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY  135 

the  county  by  the  outlaws,  because  he  had  given  the 
Wishart  company  something  to  eat;  instead  of  leaving, 
he  joined  the  company  that  was  hunting  them.  Mr. 
McCallum  remained  with  the  company  until  the  10th  of 
December,  and  on  the  17th  went  to  the  State  of  Georgia 
to  please  his  father  and  friends.  Staying  there  seven 
months  he  returned  to  Robeson  and  rejoinedth^  sane 
company.  He  found  the  company  then  composed  of  A.  S. 
Wishart,  R.  E.  Wishart,  James  McKay,  Ernest  Lemon, 
Buck  Hilliard  and  a  negro  by  the  name  of  Solomon  Mor- 
rison, (the  only  negro,  be  it  said  to  his  credit,  that  ever 
voluntarily  hunted  the  outlaws).  The  hunt  for  the  re- 
maing  outlaw,  viz:  Steve  Lowrie,  was  still  kept  up  by 
this  company.  Two  members  of  the  outlaw  band  had 
been  previously  killed  viz :  Boss  Strong  by  James  Mc- 
Queen, and  Andrew  Strong,  by  William  "Wilson,  so  that 
Steve  Lowrie  was  the  only  outlaw  that  roamed  at  large, 
and  he  became  so  shy  that  it  was  a  difficult  matter  to 
see  or  hear  of  his  whereabouts.  However,  James  Mc- 
Kay, Ernest  Lemon  and  the  negro  Solomon  Morrison 
shot  at  him  a  short  time  before  he  was  killed  while  con- 
versing with  Nat  Clark,  near  Clark's  residence,  but  they 
were  too  far  off  to  hurt  the  outlaw.  These  same  men, 
together  with  A.  McE.  McCallum,  were  stationed  on  the 
main  road  not  more  than  half  of  a  mile  distant  from  the 
place  where  Steve  Lowrie  was  killed,  on  the  night  pre- 
ceding his  killing,  waiting  for  Steve  Lowrie  to  pass.  As 
he  did  not  come  along,  they  dispersed  to  meet  again  on 
Monday  night  following,  but  to  their  joy  they  learned 
on  Monday  that  a  different  party  of  men  had  sent  Steve 
Lowrie  to  his  "long  home."  Although  they  did  not  kill 
him,  they  were  rejoiced  to  know  that  he  was  out  of  the 
way,  and  that  the  last  one  of  the  outlaws   had  gone   to 


136  THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY. 

the  "spirit  land"  never  to  return,  and  that  the  good  peo- 
ple of  Robeson  county  could  once  more  breathe  free  and 
easy.  And  here  the  writer  would  say  that  Robeson 
county  owes  a  debt  of  gratitude  to  the  noble,  heroic  and 
self-sacrificing  men  who  composed  the  Wishart  compa- 
ny. "When  they  went  into  Scffletown  to  hunt  the  out- 
laws it  might  almost  be  said  that  the  county  had  been 
given  up  to  the  outlaws;  there  were  few  men  that  could 
be  induced  in  the  county  to  take  arms  against  them.  The 
county,  State  and  United  States  troops  had  been  so  far 
distanced  and  "out  generalled"  by  these  villains,  that  it 
really  seemed  hopeless  to  attempt  their  capture;  but  the 
brave  men  who  composed  the  Wishart  company  never 
faltered  in  their  efforts  to  kill  or  capture  them.  Often 
were  they  sneered  at  by  those  who  should  have  been 
their  friends;  often  were  they  turned  off  from  the  houses 
of  those  who  feared  the  Lowrie  bandits,  hungry,  cold, 
wet  and  fatigued,  to  seek  food  and  shelters  as  best  they 
could;  but  there  were  five  well-to-do  farmers  in  striking 
distance  of  Scufnetown  who  never  failed  to  give  them 
the  "best  cheer"  possible.  These  farmers  were  Mr. 
John  McNair,  Capt.  Willis  P.  Moore,  James  D.  Bridgers, 
John  McCalium,  and  David  Townsend.  These  five 
were  ready  at  any  hour,  day  or  night,  to  relieve  their 
physical  wants  and  aid  them  in  every  possible  way. 
And  now,  as  the  last  outlaw  has  run  his  race,  and  finish- 
ed his  course,  let  the  good  people  of  Robeson  hold  in 
great  remembrance  "the  good"  done  Robeson  county 
by  the  men  who  composed  the  Wishart  company;  let 
their  names  be  handed  down  to  posterity,  along  with 
those  of  Mr.  John  McNair,  Capt.  Willis  P.  Moore,  James 
D.  Bridgers,  John  McCalium  and  David  Townsend,  so 
that  the  rising  generation  may  know  who  were  the  true 


THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY.  137 

men  of  Robeson  county  during  the  "dark  period"  in  her 
history,  and  during  the  time  in  which  the  Lowrie  ban- 
dits held  a  bloody  carnival  within  her  borders. 


STORE  AND  COURT  HOUSE  ROBBERY. 

On  the  morning  of  the  19th  of  February,  1872,  the 
usual  quiet  of  the  town  of  Lumberton  was  greatly  dis- 
turbed by  the  announcement  that  the  robber  clan  had 
been  there  the  night  before  and  committed  robberies, 
but  to  what  extent  remained  to  be  ascertained.  Two 
of  the  young  gentlemen  of  the  place  were  out  early  on 
their  way  to  their  places  of  business,  and  discovered 
the  iron  safe  from  the  Sheriff's  office  in  the  street,  about 
fifty  yards  from  the  Court  House.  The  alarm  was  given, 
the  citizens  aroused,  and  could  be  seen  hurrying  in 
every  direction  to  learn  who  were  the  sufferers,  and  to 
what  extent.  The  next  thing  found  to  be  missing  was 
a  horse  and  dary,  from  the  stebles  of  Mr.  A.  W.  Fuller. 
The  back  door  of  the  store  of  Messrs.  Pope  &  McLeod  was 
found  open,  which  had  been  left  locked  and  barred  on 
the  inside;  on  further  examination  they  learned  their 
safe  was  missing,  containing  a  large  amount  of  money 
belonging  to  the  firm,  as  well  as  that  of  others  which 
had  been  deposited  with  them  for  safe  keeping;  all  their 
valuable  papers  and  books  were  also  in  the  safe;  in  ad- 
dition to  this,  they  took  dry  goods,  ready  made  cloth- 
ing, boots,  shoes,  guns,  &c.  They  entered  a  black- 
smith shop  and  took  tools  with  which  to  open  the  safe. 
Messrs.  Pope  &  McLeod  immediately  started  out  in  the 
direction  which  the  dray  had  gone,  while  squads  of  cit- 
izens were  left  standing  about  the  streets  consulting  on 


138  THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY. 

what  course  best  to  pursue.  After  some  little  time  a 
party  was  raised  and  started  in  pursuit  of  the  robber 
clan.  About  a-half  mile  from  town  the  party  pursuing 
came  up  with  Messrs.  Pope  &  McLeod,  who  had  found 
the  safe  emptied  of  its  valuable  contents.  The  whole 
party  then  concluded  to  return  to  Lumberton,  as  fur- 
ther pursuit  would  be  of  no  avail.  Several  months  af- 
terwards one  of  the  books  from  the  store  was  found  in  a 
field  near  Mr.  McLeod's  residence.  A  key  was  found 
in  the  pocket  of  Tom  Lowrie  when  killed,  which  fitted 
the  lock  of  the  front  door  of  the  store  robbed,  and  it 
was  supposed  they  entered  the  store  with  the  false  key, 
locked  it,  and  passed  out  through  the  back  door.  It  was 
the  next  day  after  their  visit  to  Lumberton,  and  over 
the  division  of  that  night's  spoils,  that  Henry  Berry  Low- 
rie lost  his  life  by  the  accidental  discharge  of  his  own 
gun. 

THE  DEATH  OF  THE  ROBBER  CHIEF,  HENRY 

BERRY  LOWRIE. 

Early  on  the  Morning  of  February  20th,  1872,  be- 
tween daylight  and  sunrise,  the  whole  band  of  outlaws 
returned  to  the  house  of  Tom  Lowrie  after  their  raid  on 
Lumberton,  having  on  the  previous  night  entered  the 
store  of  Messrs.  Pope  &  McLeod,  and  abstracting  there- 
from an  iron  safe,  and  proceeding  thence  to  the  Court 
House  and  entering  the  Sheriff's  office  and  taking  along 
his  iron  safe,  proceeded  forthwith  to  leave  Lumberton 
by  way  of  the  turnpike  road  leading  across  the  country 
by  Morrisey's  mill.  Finding  their  load  too  heavy,  they 
dropped  the  Sheriff's  safe  on  the  streets  of  Lumberton 
and  went  on  with  the  safe  of  Messrs.  Pope  &  McLeod  to 


THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY.  139 

a  distance  of  about  three  miles  and  rifled  it  of  the  whole 
of  its  contents,  getting  in  all  about  twenty-two  thousand 
dollars.  The  band  then  wended  its  way  to  the  house  of 
Tom  Lowrie,in  Scuffletown,and,  being  fearful  of  pursuit, 
built  up  a  fire  near  the  crib  of  Tom  Lowrie  and  com- 
menced fixing  their  fire  arms,  in  case  they  would  be  at- 
tacked by  any  party  in  pursuit  of  them;  and  here  the  out- 
law chief,  Henry  B.  Lowrie,  terminated  his  own  earthly  ca- 
reer. "Whilst  attempting  to  draw  a  load  out  of  his  double 
barrel  gun,  the  gun  slipping  in  his  hand,  the  hammer 
of  one  of  the  barrels  struck  against  a  sill  of  the  crib  and 
the  gun  went  off,  the  load  taking  effect  in  Henry  Berry 
Lowries  face  and  forehead,  tearing  away  his  nose  and 
the  greater  portion  of  his  forehead.  He  died  almost  in- 
stantly. Thus  perished  the  great  robber  chief  of  Robe- 
son county.  Preparations  were  set  on  foot  immediately 
for  his  burial.  A  party  of  Indians  went  to  the  saw  mill 
of  Mr.  Archibald  Buie  for  lumber,  which  had  to  be 
sawed.  "When  the  lumber  was  obtained.  Jesse  Oxen- 
dine  (being  a  carpenter)  was  called  in  and  made  the  coffin 
the  other  outlaws  standing  guard  all  the  time.  "When 
all  the  necessary  preparations  were  completed,  the  re- 
mains of  the  dead  robber  chief  were  temporarily  placed 
in  a  shallow  grave  under  Tom  Lowrie's  crib.  On  the 
following  night,  near  mid-night,  the  remaining  outlaws 
took  up  the  body  of  the  dead  robber  chief  and  carried 
it  off  and  buried  it,  where,  in  all  human  probability,  no 
white  man  will  ever  find  out. 

Thus  passed  away  this  remarkable  bandit,  in  his 
twenty-sixth  year —the  greatest  scourge  ever  inflicted 
upon  the  good  people  of  Robeson  county.  He  was  said 
to  have  had  a  good  deal  of  money  in  his  possesion  at  this 
time,  as  his  comrades  in  arms  often  reported  to  outsiders 


140  THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY. 

that  he  was  in  the  habit  of  appropriating  "the  lion's 
share"  to  his  own  use  of  all  the  money  taken,  giving  to 
the  other  outlaws  the  other  booty.  No  member  of  the 
band, not  even  his  "fidus  Achates,"  Boss  Strong,  nor  his 
wife,  Rhoda  Lowrie,  knew  where  he  kept  his  money. 
Diligent  search  has  been  made  by  the  remaining  mem- 
bers of  the  gang  to  find  his  treasure  chest,  but  as  yet, 
"it  is  love's  labor  lost."  For  some  time  after  the  death 
of  Henry  Berry  Lowrie.  his  companions  denied  all 
knowledge  of  his  fate;  even  his  relations  professed  to 
be  ignorant  of  it,  but  the  facts,  one  by  one,  leaked  out 
through  different  individuals  of  the  Indian  race,  who 
saw  the  dead  robber  chief  whilst  "lying  in  state"  before 
his  interment.  The  main  object  in  keeping  his  fate  con- 
cealed from  the  public  seems  to  have  been  to  keep  the 
timid  whites  in  awe  of  the  "outlaw  gang,"  and  to  pre- 
vent those  who  were  endeavoring  to  capture  him  from 
getting  his  body.  This  course  of  conduct  on  the  part 
of  the  "outlaw  gang"  and  the  Indians  gener- 
ally, was  in  accordance  with  their  previous  course. 
"When  George  Applewhite  was  shot,  and  Boss  Strong 
killed,  they  endeavored  to  divert  public  attention  by 
telling  various  tales  in  regard  to  the  fate  of  each,  in 
in  which  there  was  not  one  particle  of  truth;  but  now, 
at  this  writing,  inasmuch  as  Steve  Lowrie,  the  last  out- 
law, has  also  gone  to  the  "spirit  land,"  and  the  reign  of 
the  gang  terminated,  and  there  being  no  need  of  mystery 
in  regard  to  the  fate  of  the  robber  chief;  several  Indians 
in  Scuffletown  are  outspoken  in  regard  to  the  manner  in 
which  Henry  Berry  Lowrie  met  his  fate,  and  they  all 
verify  the  facts  as  above  recited.  This  noted  Indian 
bandit  is  certainly  gone  to  the  criminal's  bourne;  he  is 
most  certainly  done  making   raids  on  the    law-abiding 


THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY.  141 

citizens  of  Robeson  county;  he  is  assuredly  done  fright- 
ening the  women  and  children  of  the  white  race  by  his 
martial  appearance;  his  scepter  has  been  laid  aside  and 
his  spirit  summoned  to  appear  before  "the  Judge  of  all 
the  earth,"  to  answer  for  the  long  catalog  of  crimes,  as 
long,  probably,  as  the  list  of  Homer's  ships.  Some  have 
compared  him  to  Oceola,  or  Powell,  the  noted  leader  of 
the  Seminole  Indians  in  Florida,  others  to  "the  bold 
archer"  Robin  Hood,  whilst  still  others  say  that  he 
was  more  like  Rob  Roy  McGregor.  Be  this  as  it  may, he 
certainly  played  an  extended  role  in  his  own  way,  be- 
ing the  leader  of  the  most  formidable  band  of  outlaws, 
considering  the  smallness  of  its  numbers,  that  has  ever 
appeared  in  this  country.  He  developed  a  cunning, 
bloodthirstiness,  and  courage  unmatched  in  the  history 
of  his  race. 


THE  KILLING  OF  ANDREW  STRONG. 

Mr.  William  Wilson,  a  native  of  Guilford  county, 
aged  thirty-eight,  being  in  the  employ  of  A.  &  W.  Mc- 
Queen, incurred  by  some  means  or  other,  the  displeasure 
of  Steve  Lowrie  and  Andrew  Strong,  the  only  two  re- 
maining outlaws.  Sometime  in  the  month  of  Decem- 
ber, 1872,  therefore,  Steve  Lowrie,  and  Andrew  Strong, 
on  the  morning  of  December  25,  1872,  went  to  the  store 
of  Mr.  John  Humphrey  at  Pates,  a  station  on  the  Car- 
olina Central  Railway,  in  the  heart  of  Scuffletown, 
where  Mr.  William  Wilson  was  a  clerk,  and  informed 
him  that  he  had  been  talking  about  them.  Mr.  Wilson 
did  not  say  much,  one  way  or  the  other,  whereupon  An- 
drew Strong  told  Mr.  Wilson  "that  he  would  give  him 
until  train  time  the  next  day  to  leave  the  county,   and 


142  THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY. 

that  if  he  did  not  leave,  that  he  (Andrew  Strong)  would 
kill    him;"  they   then   left   Pates,    heavily    armed    on   a 
Christmas  Frolic.      Mr.    Wilson,   after  their   departure, 
loaded  up  a  double-barrel  shot-gun  with  buck-shot,  and 
concealed  it   under  a  coverlet  in  an  adjoining  room  for 
use  whenever  the  outlaws  would  make  their  appearance. 
So  about  4  o'clock  p.    m.,    on  the  same  day,   Andrew 
Strong  alone  made  his  appearance  again  at  the  store  of 
Mr.  John  Humphrey,  and  after  purchasing  a  few  articles 
of  merchandise,  turned  and  walked  out  on  the  piazza  in 
front  of  the  shore,  and  leaning  up  against  a  post  with  his 
back  towards  the  door  of  the  store,  Mr.  Wilson  deliber- 
ately fired  on  him,  the  shot  taking  effect  in  the  neck  of 
the  outlaw,   killing  him  almost  instantly.       Several  In- 
dians   being  present,   Mr.    Wilson    informed  them    that 
whoever  touched  or  laid  his  hand  on  the  body  of  An- 
drew Strong,  he  would  kill  him  instantly  with  the  other 
barrel  of  his  shot-gun,  which  was  then  cocked;  he  then 
pressed  a  wagon  and  a  pair  of  mules  and  compelled  John 
Humphrey,    Floyd    Oxendine    and  two    other   Indians, 
(names  not  recollected)  to  place  the  body  of  Andrew 
Strong  in  the  wagon  and  accompany  him,  with  the  re- 
mains   of    the    dead   outlaw,  to  Lumberton,    where  the 
whole  party  arrived  sometime  after  nightfall,  and  form- 
ally delivered  the  body  of  Andrew  Strong  to  the  Sheriff 
of  the  county,  who  identified  it  as  the  body  of  Andrew 
Strong,  and  paid  forthwith  the  reward  which  had  been 
offered  for  the  body  of  Andrew  Strong,  dead  or  alive, 
and  fixed  up  the  papers  for  Mr.    Wilson  to  draw  from 
the    State   Treasury  the  amount  offered  by   the  State, 
which  amount  the  State  Treasurer  paid  Mr.   Wilson  as 
soon  as  he  presented  the  papers.       Thus   perished  An- 
drew Strong,   another  of  the  Robeson  county  outlaws. 


THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY.  143 

He  was  the  elder  brother  of  Boss  Strong,  and  was  in  his 
twenty-fourth  year.  He  was  a  little  over  six  feet  high, 
tall  and  slim,  and  nearly  white;  he  possessed  beard 
somewhat  of  a  reddish  color,  and  had  dark  straight  hair 
on  his  head.  He  was  the  Oily  Gammon  of  the  "outlaw 
gang,"  and  could  wear  a  look  of  great  meekness,  and, 
whilst  at  the  same  time,  his  tongue  was  soft  and  treach- 
erous, so  much  so,  that  it  would  seem  difficult  for  sugar 
or  butter  to  melt  in  his  mouth.  The  civil  authorities  had 
him  up  once  in  Court  and  when  the  Solicitor  in  behalf  of  the 
State  read  out  the  indictment,  his  great  soft  eyes  seemed 
as  if  ready  to  shed  tears  at  such  unjust  imputations.  He 
married  the  daughter  of  Henry  Sampson,  another  In- 
dian of  Scuffletown.  Andrew  Strong  was  a  cowardly 
sneak;  when  he  would  kill  a  person  the  honey  would 
almost  seem  to  drop  from  his  tongue  into  the  wound  he 
had  inflicted;  indeed  he  might  be  called  a  professor  of 
deceit,  perfidious,  plausible,  uncertain,  deadly — he  was 
certainly  the  meanest  of  the  gang. 


A  NIGHT  AMONG  THE  ROBBERS. 

About  the  middle  of  November  1870,  a  detective  who 
had  been  employed  to  watch  the  movements  of  the 
Lowrie  gang  of  this  county,  established  a  camp  in  a  bay 
near  Moss  Neck  for  the  purpose  of  prosecuting  his  mis- 
sion with  as  much  secrecy  as  possible.  The  camp  was 
near  the  house  of  Mr.  W.  C.  McNeill,  one  of  the  best 
citizens  of  our  county;  and  his  son  Malcom  was  in  the 
habit  of  visiting  the  camp  occasionally,  and  giving  Mr. 
Sanders  such  assistance  as  he  could.  On  Sunday,  the 
20th  of  November,  he  met  with  three  young  men  whom 


144  THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY. 

he  knew  to  be  reliable,  made  an  engagement  to  meet  them 
after  night  at  the  camp  of  Mr.  Sanders.  The  young  men 
accordingly  repaired  to  the  camp  about  4  o'clock  in  the 
afternoon  to  await  the  arrival  of  Mr.  McNeill,  who  did 
not  reach  the  camp  until  about  7'oclock  p.  m.  The  fol- 
lowing is  Mr.  McNeill's  statement  of  what  occurred  on 
his  approach  to  the  camp: 

"When  I  approached  within  a  short  distance  of  the 
camp,  I  saw  the  young  men  I  was  to  meet  there.  They 
immediately  informed  me  that  the  camp  was  sur- 
rounded by  the  robbers,  and  that  if  I  attempted  to  es- 
cape, I  would  be  shot,  I  halted  and  made  a  movement 
to  draw  my  pistol,  when  four  men  arose  among  the 
bushes,  and  presenting  their  cocked  guns,  warned  me 
that  I  was  a  prisoner,  and  that  I  would  be  fired  upon  if 
I  did  not  immediately  surrender.  These  men  I  recog- 
nized as  Henry  B.  Lowrie,  Stephen  Lowrie,  George 
Applewhite  and  Boss  Strong.  H.  B.  took  my  repeater 
from  me,  saying  that  I  might  make  myself  at  home,  as 
they  would  take  care  of  me  that  night.  I  then  took  my 
position  with  the  other  prisoners  around  the  camp  fire; 
but  after  a  short  time  H.  B.  Lowrie  summoned  me  to 
go  with  him  a  short  distance  from  the  camp;  he  then 
turned  and  addressed  me  in  the  following  language: 
l'G — d  d — n  your  soul,  I  want  to  know  where  Sanders 
is.  You  know  all  about  him;  a  respectable  white  man,  and 
one  you  do  not  suspect,  has  told  me  you  are  harboring 
him,  and  doing  all  you  can  to  assist  him  in  hunting  us 
down.  I'm  straight  on  your  track  now,  G — d  d — n 
you,  and  if  you  don't  tell  all  about  Sanders,  I'll  kill  you 
right  here;  I  intend  to  kill  you  anyhow,  as  soon  as  we 
get  Sanders."  He  asked  me  when  I  saw  Sanders.  I  re- 
plied,  last  Saturday  week.       He  then  escorted  me  back 


THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY.  145 

to  the  camp,  and  very  soon  Stephen  Lowrie  took  me 
out  for  a  chat;  he  asked  me  about  the  same  questions  as 
Henry  B.  had,  and  received  the  same  answers — he  also 
made  the  same  threats,  and  charged  me  with  harboring 
Sanders.  We  passed  the  whole  night  in  the  camp — the 
prisoners  occupying  Sanders'  quarters  (Mr.  Sanders 
was  absent  at  the  time),  and  the  robbers  stationed  around 
us.  During  the  night  Stephen  Lowrie  exhibited  to  me  a 
pack  of  cards,  which  he  said  he  bought  at  the  Scotch 
Fair,  and  boasted  of  his  boldness  in  visiting  that  place. 
Messengers  were  sent  at  intervals  through  the  night  in 
two  different  directions  from  the  camp,  apparently  to 
confer  with  parties  stationed  a  short  distance  off.  About 
daylight  the  robbers  became  impatient,  and  began  to 
look  out  as  for  the  arrival  of  some  one  whom  they  ex- 
pected to  come  in  at  that  hour.  Soon  after  daylight 
Stephen  Lowrie  went  out  alone  in  the  direction  of  Moss 
Neck;  after  he  had  been  gone  about  ten  minutes,  I  heard 
several  voices  a  short  distance  from  the  camp  cry,  "halt!" 
One  of  them  I  recognized  as  the  voice  of  Stephen  Low- 
rie, the  others  of  the  men  whom  I  had  not  seen  in  the 
camp  ;  I  also  heard  a  voice  which  I  recognized  to  be 
that  of  Sanders  say,  "I  surrender. "  Henry  B.  Lowrie, 
George  Applewhite  and  Henderson  Oxendine  now  left 
us  and  ran  out  in  the  direction  of  the  voices,  leaving  us 
in  charge  of  Boss  Strong.  H.  B.  and  Stephen  Lowrie 
returned  to  the  camp  singing  and  rejoicing,  saying  that 
they  had  got  the  buck  they  wanted.  H.  B.  Lowrie  then 
approached  me  and  said,  "G — d  d — n  you,  will  you  tell 
a  straight  tale  now?  You  said  you  hadn't  seen  Sanders 
since  Saturday  week — d — n  you,  you  saw  him  last  Sat- 
urday."    Stephen  Lowrie  then  took  me  aside  and  said, 


146  THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY. 

"Henry  Berry  is  mad  with  you — he  is  mad  enough  to 
kill  you,  and  I  am  afraid  he  will  kill  you,  but  I'll  try  to 
prevent  it."  Henry  Berry  then  called  me  aside  and 
said,  "Now,  G — d  d — n  you,  you've  been  doing  all  you 
could  against  me — you've  been  harboring  this  man  San- 
ders and  trying  to  have  us  captured  —I've  got  a  notion 
to  kill  you  right  here,  but  if  you'll  promise  me  to  leave 
the  country  I  believe  I'll  let  you  off  this  time,  but  if  I 
ever  get  hold  of  you  again,  you  may  look  out."  He  then 
returned  the  pistols  that  had  been  taken  from  the  other 
prisoners,  but  he  kept  mine,  saying  he  would  take  care 
of  it.  He  then  told  me  he  would  give  me  a  little  advice: 
"I  might  go  to  Moss  Neck  and  run  my  shebang — I  might 
have  a  guard  there  if  I  wished,  but  he  would  advise  me 
to  leave  the  country,  and  leave  immediately."  Said  he, 
"You  are  young,  stout,  healthy,  and  able  to  do  good  busi- 
ness; I  hate  to  interfere  with  you,  but  you  have  done  so 
much  against  us,  I've  got  a  notion  to  kill  you.  Tell  your 
father  if  he  will  stay  at  home  and  let  us  alone  he  needn't 
be  afraid,  but  he  must  walk  a  chalk  line."  They  then 
sent  me  and  the  other  young  men  they  had  captured  off 
in  one  direction,  and  they  moved  off  in  an  opposite  di- 
rection. I  did  not  see  Sanders,  as  he  was  not  brought 
into  the  camp,  but  I  recognized  his  voice  in  pronouncing 
the  words  "I  surrender,"  when  halted  near  the  camp. 


STEPHEN  LOWRIE. 


We  now  come  to  the  closing  scene  of  outlawry  in 
Robeson  county — when  the  last  desperado  of  that  for- 
midable "Lowrie  Band"  played  his  own  death  march 
on  the  eve  of  joining  his  faithful  comrades  in  crime  and 


THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY.  147 

bloodshed  who  had  gone  on  before  to  judgment  and  jus- 
tice. No  tongue  can  picture  or  pen  portray  the  great 
sense  of  relief  that  swelled  in  many  bosoms  at  the  an- 
nouncement that  "the  last  outlaw  is  dead."  No  more 
will  suffering  mothers  and  wives,  on  seeing  their  loved 
ones  depart  for  their  places  of  business,  offer  up  the 
heartfelt  prayer,  "God  protect  our  dear  son  or  husband 
from  the  rage  of  Steve  Lowrie;"  never  again  shall  his 
swarthy  face  peer  into  our  dwellings,  sending  a  thrill  of 
horror  through  our  veins,  and  causing  our  hearts  to 
stand  still  with  fear  and  apprehension  ;  no  more  shall  the 
echo  of  his  rifle  reverberate  through  field  and  forest  :-his 
old  haunts  are  desolate;  the  well  beaten  paths  through 
swamp  and  woodland  are  overgrown  with  briar  and 
bramble;  his  cabin,  own  deserted,  stands  crumbling  in 
decay,  reminding  the  passer-by  that  the  reign  of  terror 
is  over  in  Robeson — the  glory  of  the  robber  chief  and 
his  clan  is  ended,  and  naturally  a  prayer  of  thanksgiv- 
ing arises  for  the  long  hoped-for  deliverance, 

Steve  Lowrie  was  about  six  feet  high,  well  propor- 
tioned, carrying  his  head  a  little  forward,  giving  him 
the  appearance  of  being  slightly  stoop-shouldered.  He 
was  always  well  armed  with  navy  repeaters,  a  Henry 
rifle  and  occasionally  a  double  barrel  gun.  After  the 
killing  of  the  other  members  of  the  band,  and  he  was 
left  the  field  to  himself,  he  remained  for  several  months 
very  quiet.  He  finally  began  to  grow  weary  of  the 
hum-drum,  inactive  life  he  was  leading,  and  he  was  grad- 
ually becoming  troublesome.  He  drank  a  good  deal, 
and  in  his  drinking  hours  was  really  dangerous.  He 
made  many  threats,  particularly  while  drinking,  as  to 
what  he  intended  doing  were  he  not  pardoned,  and  as- 
serted positively  that  he  had  boys  drilling,  and  as  soon 


148  THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY. 

as  they  equalled  him  in  markmanship  they  would  start 
out,  and  the  past  was  not  a  circumstance  to  that  which 
was  in  store  for  those  whom  he  believed  to  be  his  ene- 
mies. Several  times  within  a  few  days  before  he  was 
killed  he  mentioned  the  names  of  three  young  men  in 
the  neighborhood  that  he  had  decided  to  kill  in  a  few 
days.  One  of  them  was  Mr.  Patterson,  who  aided  in 
ridding  the  county  of  his  vile  presence  on  the  memora- 
ble night  of  the  23rd  of  February,  1874.  Some  of  his 
own  color  stood  in  much  fear  of  him,  as  he  had  whipped 
some  of  their  wives  and  daughters  severely,  and  threat- 
ened killing  them  if  he  heard  of  their  talking  about  him 
again. 

Although  he  strode  from  place  to  place,  apparently  at 
ease  and  without  fear,  his  paths  were  watched.  It  was 
no  easy  matter,  though  it  may  appear  so  to  those  unac- 
quainted with  the  real  facts  in  the  case,  to  come  up  with 
him.  Those  who  were  eagerly  in  pursuit  of  him, 
found  it  difficult  to  locate  him.  To-day  he  might 
be  at  the  house  of  one  of  his  many  friends  for  a  few 
hours;  it  might  be  weeks  before  he  would  visit  the  same 
place  again.  A  few  weeks  before  he  was  killed,  a  party 
of  three  who  liad  been  lying  in  wait  for  hours  near  the 
house  of  a  colored  man,  where  he  was  known  to  call 
very  often  in  passing,  had  the  pleasure  of  seeing  him 
emerge  from  the  house  and  take  his  place  for  a  chat  in 
such  a  position  as  to  give  them  an  opportunity  of  giving 
him  a  taste  of  powder,  but  they,  so  eager  for  the  game, 
fired  too  hasty — and  missed.  He  ran  and  made  good 
his  escape  unhurt,  amid  a  shower  of  shot.  This  warn- 
ing made  him  more  cautious,  and  led  him  to  avoid  such 
places  in  future.  He  left  that  portion  of  the  neighbor- 
hood and  went  higher  up,  where  in  a  few  weeks  he  met 


THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY.  149 

his  just  doom  at  the   hands   of  the    young  men  whose 
names  will  appear  in  the  following  particulars : 

The  families  of  Messrs.  D.  Holcomb  and  Davis  Bul- 
lard  were  frequently  annoyed  by  the  visits  of  Steve 
Lowrie.  It  was  at  the  house  of  the  father  of  Davis  (Mr. 
E.  Bullard)  that  the  two  young  men  above  named  met 
Steve  in  December,  1873,  and  jointly  resolved  to  take 
his  life  or  rid  their  families  of  his  company.  They  ac- 
cordingly left  the  house  and  proceeded  to  station  them- 
selves on  the  road  which  they  supposed  he  would  go  on 
his  way  home.  Steve  remained  until  about  9  o'clock 
and  left,  taking  the  direction  in  which  the  boys  had 
gone,  but  before  getting  to  them  took  a  by-path,  thus 
escaping  them.  Several  weeks  after  this,  Mr.  Holcomb 
was  on  his  way  to  Red  Banks,  a  depot  on  the  Carolina 
Central  Railway,  when  he  was  met  and  accosted  by 
Steve.  He  inquired  of  Mr.  H.  where  he  was  going.  He 
told  him,  and  in  turn  made  the  same  inquiry  of  Steve. 
He  replied  that  he  was  going  over  to  a  whiskey  wagon 
that  had  camped  a  short  distance  off.  Each  then  went 
on  his  way.  In  the  afternoon  of  the  same  day,  as  Mr. 
H.  was  returning  from  the  Banks,  he  again  met  Steve,  in 
company  with  the  wagon  that  he  had  spoken  of  in  the 
morning.  He  told  Mr.  Holcomb  that  he  must  go  back 
with  him  a  mile  or  so  to  McLaughlin's  (the  mother  of 
the  notorious  Zach.  McLaughlin)  to  borrow  a  jug  to  put 
some  whiskey  in,  which  he  had  bought  from  the  wagon- 
er. When  they  reached  McLaughlin's  Steve  asked  Mr. 
Holcomb  if  he  brought  any  letters  from  the  office.  He 
told  him  that  he  had  one  for  Mr.  Purcell.  He  desired 
Mr.  H.  to  open  and  read  the  letter  to  him.  This  he  re- 
fused, telling  him  that  if  he  would  go  to  Mr.  Purcell's  he 


150  THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY. 

would  read  it  for  him.  He  readily  consented  to  do  this, 
requesting  Mr.  H.  to  accompany  him.  He  mounted  Mr. 
Holcomb's  horse,  compelling  him  to  take  a  seat  behind 
him.  Mr.  Holcomb  objected  to  this  style  of  riding,  and 
proposed  to  go  to  Mr.  Bullard's  and  borrow  another  an- 
imal, to  which  he  assented.  Mr.  H.  had  another  object 
in  view  in  going  to  this  place,  which  Steve  did  not  sus- 
pect. While  he  was  getting  another  animal  he  was  also 
laying  a  plan  with  Mr.  Thomas  Bullard  to  go  and  get 
his  brother  Robert  Holcomb  to  waylay  the  road,  and  on 
their  return  to  pick  Lowrie  off;  but  he  again  frustrated 
them  by  taking  a  by-way.  "When  they  reached  Mr. 
Purcell's  and  the  letter  was  handed  him,  Steve  remark- 
ed that  his  business  there  was  to  know  the  contents  of 
that  letter.  It  was  read  to  him,  but  it  was  not  concern- 
ing the  petition  for  his  pardon,  as  he  thought,  and  which 
was  the  cause  of  his  showing  so  much  interest  in  it.  Af- 
ter leaving  Mr.  Purcell's,  Steve  went  to  the  house  of  Mr. 
Holcomb  and  remained  about  one  hour.  Davis  Bullard 
was  also  there,  and  Steve  told  him  and  Mr.  H.  that  they 
must  go  to  the  house  of  a  Mr.  Jones  that  lived  near,  and 
get  him  some  chickens.  They  started,  but  instead  of 
going  to  Mr.  Jones',  they  went  to  Mr.  Patterson's, 
called  him  out,  told  him  the  situation,  and  requested  him 
to  go  with  him.  Before  starting  they  went  to  the  fowl- 
house  and  took  a  chicken,  in  order  to  disarm  Steve  of 
any  suspicion  which  might  arise  in  his  mind  from  their 
prolonged  stay.  They  had  parted  with  Steve  at  a  ne- 
gro house,  and  on  their  return  were  to  go  with  him  to 
the  house  of  Purcell  Locklear,  where  there  was  a  whis- 
key wagon  camped.  Mr.  Patterson  left  them  to  conceal 
himself  on  the  road  until  they  would  pass,  and  he  was 
then  to  go  on  to  the  wagon.     Steve  being    ever   on  the 


THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY.  .;         [  151 

c*&.  _  _ . 

alert,  would  have  at  once  suspected  some  scheme  if  Mr. 
P.  had  gone  in  company  with  them.  Their  object  in 
getting  Mr.  P.  to  go  with  them  was  to  assist  in  ridding 
the  county  then  and  there  of  the  last  outlaw,  should  op- 
portunity offer.  The  boys  were  all  unarmed,  but  Mr. 
H.  picked  up  an  axe,  intending  to  kill  him  with  it,  but 
Steve  turned  suddenly,  and  again  they  were  thwarted. 
Seeing  no  prospect  of  a  chance  that  night,  they  left, 

About  two  weeks  after  this,  Steve  was  again  at.  Mr. 
E.  Bullard's,  and  stayed  until  after  supper.  As  soon 
as  Davis  learned  that  he  was  at  the  house  of  his  father, 
he  went  after  Mr.  Holcomb  to  go  with  him  to  waylay 
the  road,  hoping  to  be  more  successful.  They  stationed 
themselves  on  the  road,  taking  their  stand  behind  the 
posts  of  a  gate  to  await  his  coming.  This  time  they 
were  doomed  to  disappointment,  for  in  passing  the  gate 
he  walked  so  near  the  post  as  to  render  it  impossible  to 
bring  their  guns  to  bear  upon  him.  A  short  time  after 
this,  Mr.  Holcomb  heard  of  him  in  the  neighborhood, 
and  got  Mr.  Sutton  to  go  with  him  to  endeavor  to  learn 
his  whereabouts;  they  concluded  to  get  Mr.  Patterson 
also,  and  went  to  his  house  for  that  purpose.  Davis 
Bullard  had  also  heard  of  him,  and  had  been  before 
them,  and  he,  in  company  with  Mr.  Patterson,  had  gone 
to  try  and  intercept  him.  As  they  were  not  sufficient- 
ly supplied  with  ammunition,  they  went  to  the  house  of 
Mr.  H.  to  supply  themselves.  "When  they  came  near 
the  house  they  heard  some  one  picking  the  banjo  ;  on 
waiting  a  short  time  they  learned  it  was  Steve.  They 
were  confident  that  the  other  boys  were  somewhere  in 
the  vicinity,  and  walked  around  to  see  if  they  could  get 
together.  They  soon  found  them,  and  together  took 
their   places    near  a    hay-loft,    where   Steve    had    slept 


152  THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY. 

sometime  before.  They  sat  there  until  near  11  o'clock, 
when  they  concluded  he  would  not  remain  all  night, 
and  changed  their  position  over  near  the  road  that  he 
would  take  should  he  go  home.  In  a  few  minutes  he 
came  out  and  went  into  the  loft,  passing  in  a  few  feet 
of  their  first  stand.  They  gave  up  the  chase  for  this 
time,  but  with  the  determination  to  try  again  whenever 
opportunity  offered. 

Friday  night  before  he  was  killed  the  following  Mon- 
day there  was  a  social  gathering  at  the  house  of  Mr. 
Neill  Patterson.  Two  of  the  boys  present  walked  out; 
a  short  distance  from  the  house  some  one  hailed  them, 
which  proved  to  be  Steve  Lowrie.  He  conversed  with 
them  a  short  time,  and  during  the  conversation  laugh- 
ed so  loudly  as  to  be  heard  at  the  house.  Messrs.  Mc. 
Patterson  and  Davis  Bullard  were  sitting  at  the  time 
out  in  the  yard  laying  a  plan  to  kill  him.  They  heard 
and  recognized  his  voice.  Davis  walked  out  and  took 
him  to  one  side  to  have  a  private  chat  with  him,  and  to 
learn  if  possible  where  he  might  be  for  a  day  or  two. 
He  proposed  to  Steve  to  make  up  a  party  somewhere 
in  the  neighborhood  and  they  would  have  some  fun. 
Steve  readily  agreed,  and  appointed  one  to  be  at  Hugh 
McLean's  the  following  Tuesday  night.  He  told  Davis 
he  must  be  sure  and  attend,  told  him  who  to  invite, 
and  to  speak  of  it  to  no  one  else,  and  particularly  to 
keep  it  a  secret  from  Mc.  Patterson  and  John  Bridgers. 
He  then  left.  The  next  day  Mr.  T.  Bullard  and  Mc. 
Patterson  were  at  the  Banks.  There  were  also  two 
whiskey  wagons.  The  above  gentlemen  heard  the 
wagoners  say  they  intended  camping  at  Martin  Mc- 
Nair's    (colored)    that     night    and    until    the    following 


THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY.  153 

Monday.  They  came  home,  reported  the  same  to 
Messrs.  Holcomb  and  Davis  Bullard,  and  they  laid 
plans  accordingly  ;  they  knew  that  Steve  was  in  the 
habit  of  visiting  the  wagons  that  camped  at  this 
place.  The  day  following  (being  Sunday)  they  were 
to  meet  at  church  and  mature  their  plans.  Messrs. 
Holcomb  and  Bullard  did  not  return  to  their  own 
homes,  but  went  to  the  house  of  a  neighbor  in  order  to 
slip  up  to  the  wagon  after  dark  without  any  one's  be- 
coming aware  of  their  plans  except  their  own  party. 
After  dark  they  crept  up  in  about  fifty  yards  of  the 
wagoner's  camp  to  learn  if  Steve  was  there.  A  loud 
laugh  rang  out  on  the  stillness  of  the  night  which  they 
at  once  recognized  as  Steve  Lowrie's.  They  were  sure 
of  the  game  now;  they  fully  intended  this  night,  to  end 
the  drama;  the  following  day  should  herald  to  an  out- 
raged people  the  end  of  outlawry  in  Robeson.  The 
brave  fellows  who  had  dogged  his  footsteps  and  wisely 
kept  their  own  counsel,  proceeded  to  the  house  of  Mr. 
E.  Bullard  to  procure  their  arms.  Here  they  found 
Messrs.  Patterson  and  Sutton.  They  did  not  have 
guns  sufficient  to  arm  a  party  of  four,  and  Mr.  Hol- 
comb proposed  to  Davis  to  lend  his  gun  to  Mr.  Sutton 
and  he  (Davis)  to  go  to  the  wagon,  and  keep  a  bright  fire, 
and  also  to  arrange  so  as  to  give  them  a  chance  of  a 
fair  trial  of  their  skill  at  the  outlaw.  Davis,  only  a  boy 
of  eighteen,  being  so  eager  for  the  fray,  at  first  refused; 
the  others  insisted,  as  Steve  had  more  confidence  in  Davis 
than  any  of  their  party,  and  had  never  been  known  to 
evince  any  anger  or  to  express  a  doubt  with  regard  to 
him.  It  being  necessary  that  some  one  cognizant  of  their 
plan  should  be  in  company  with  Steve  in  order  to  sue- 


154  THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY. 

ceed,  Davis  finally  consented,  and  at  once  proceeded 
to  the  wagon  before  the  other  boys  took  their  places. 
Messrs.  Holcomb  and  Sutton  selected  their  position  in- 
side of  a  fence  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  road  from  the 
wagon,  and  about  twenty-five  yards  distant.  They 
learned  at  once  that  they  had  an  excellent  opportunity 
of  singling  Steve  out  from  the  balance  of  the  Indians  and 
negroes,  about  a  dozen  of  whom  were  also  at  the  wagon. 
Mr.  Holcomb  raised  his  gun  to  take  aim,  when  Mr.  Sut- 
ton remarked  that  he  had  lost  the  cap  from  his  gun. 
Mr.  H.  then  took  a  cap  from  his  own  gun,  split  it  so  as 
to  fit  a  musket  and  handed  it  to  him,  but  he  (Mr.  S.)  was 
so  excited  that  he  dropped  it.  Being  now  without  caps, 
they  had  to  go  to  Mr.  Bullard's  (one-fourth  of  a  mile)  to 
get  some,  after  which  they  returned  to  their  position. 
Here  they  waited  some  time  without  an  opportunity  of 
a  shot,  and  being  tired,  crawled  off  some  little  distance 
and  lay  down  to  rest.  On  going  back,  they  overheard 
Steve  making  a  plan  to  take  some  of  the  crowd  and  go 
to  Mr.  John  McNair's  to  get  some  chickens;  they  then 
decided  to  go  and  waylay  the  road  to  Mr.  McNair's  and 
shoot  him  as  he  passed.  There  they  waited  some  time, 
and  as  they  did  not  go  on,  concluded  that  the  party  had 
gone  another  way.  They  started  back  to  ascertain,  and 
met  Messrs.  Tom  Bullard  and  Charlie  Holcomb.  They 
informed  them  that  Steve  was  still  at  the  wagon.  And 
it  was  their  impression  that  he  intended  remaining.  The 
boys  all  went  on  to  Mr.  E.  Bullard's  and  requested  Mr. 
Patterson  to  go  home  and  get  his  gun  and  go  back  to 
their  old  stand.  He  at  once,  in  company  with  Mr.  Sut- 
ton, went  after  his  gun,  and  Mr.  Holcomb  returned  to 
his  former  position  alone,  to  await  their  return.      Mr. 


THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY  155 

Tom  Bullard  went  to  the  wagon  to  try  and  learn  what 
was  to  be  the  order  of  the  night.  In  the  meantime, 
Messrs.  Patterson  and  Sutton  joined  Mr.  Holcomb,  and 
together,  they  were  awaiting  Mr.  Bullards  report;  he 
came  in  a  few  moments,  reporting  that  Steve  had  sent 
for  his  "banjo,"  and  without  doubt  would  remain  at  the 
wagon  all  night,  and  he  also  learned  that  Steve  had, 
with  a  party  of  several,  been  to  Mr.  McNair's,  entered  his 
fowl-house  by  breaking  three  locks  and  brought  six  chick- 
ens and  a  large  turkey  to  the  wagon;  the  chickens  had 
been  cooked  and  eaten — the  turkey  was  on  cooking  for 
breakfast.  He  compelled  Davis  Bullard  to  accompany 
him  to  Mr.  McNair's.  Steve  was  a  firm  believer  in  con- 
juration, and  kept  on  hand  a  supply  of  roots,  bones,  &c. ; 
before  he  started  after  the  chickens,  he  took  something 
from  his  pocket,  put  it  in  a  bottle  of  whiskey,  and  after 
shaking  well  together,  anointed  his  person  with  it,  re- 
marking at  the  time  with  an  oath,  that  there  Was  not  a 
man  in  the  Statethat  could  hit  him  with  a  shot.  The  party, 
after  hearing  this  report,  proceeded  to  their  old  stand 
near  the  fence.  They  discovered  Steve  sitting  with  his 
head  down,  putting  his  banjo  in  tune,  and  determined  as 
soon  as  he  would  raise  his  head  that  they  would  fire.  In 
a  moment  he  threw  his  head  back  and  commenced  his 
tune,  when  simultaneously  the  guns  fired  which  ended 
his  career  on  earth,  and  sent  him,  a  blood-stained, 
crime-hardened  wretch,  to  answer  before  a  great 
tribunal  for  the  deeds  committed  while  in  the  flesh. 
"With  a  deep  groan,  he  fell  forward  lifeless,  without  warn- 
ing. As  he  measured  to  others,  even  so  was  it  meted 
out  to  him.  They  at  once  made  arrangements  to  carry 
his  body  to  Lumberton,    where  it  was  delivered  to  the 


156 


THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY 


Sheriff,  amid  the  shouts  and  acclamations  of  a  large 
crowd.  It  being  court  week  in  Lumberton,  the  Judge 
was  there,  and  in  his  charge  highly  commended  the 
young  men  for  their  praise-worthy  act. 

Their  papers  to  obtain  the  reward  placed  upon  his 
head  being  duly  made  out,  signed  and  delivered  to  them, 
Messrs.  Patterson  and  Sutton  took  the  cars  for  Raleigh, 
where  they  received  the  sum  offered  for  the  body  of 
Stephen  Lowrie — the  last  outlaw  in  Robeson. 


The  above  was  taken  from  a  photograph  of  the  widow  of  Stephen 
Lowrie,  who  still  lives  (1909). 


THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY.  157 

FROM  THE  FAYETTEVILLE  EAGLE  OF  FEB- 
RUARY 26,  1874. 

Perhaps  no  people  have  been  so  scourged  as  the  peo- 
ple of  Robeson,  nevertheless  they  have  been  abused  and 
villified.  The  dandified  clerk  in  the  city  counting-room 
would  say,  "Why  don't  those  people  rise  up  and  extirpate 
the  Lowrie  gang?  If  I  was  there,  I  could  very  easily 
stop  this  thing."  The  stroller  along  the  side-walks  made 
similar  remarks.  Even  dignified  and  cautious  people 
sometimes  made  censorious  remarks  of  Robeson 
county.  A  multitude  of  talkers  afar  off  from  the  terri- 
ble scenes  enacted  by  this  Lowrie  band  had  this  and 
that  to  say  about  the  good  people  of  Robeson  county. 
Curt,  petulant  and  sarcastic  sayings  passed  from  the 
mouths  of  bomb-proof  assailants,  but  through  it  all,  the 
killing  went  on.  Not  one  of  the  captious  critics  of  Robe- 
son suffered  one  iota  in  purse  or  person.  They  were 
afar  off,  although  sometimes  trembling.  We  take  this 
opportunity,  the  killing  of  the  last  outlaw,  to  say  to  the 
country  at  large,  what  we  know  to  be  strictly  true,  that 
there  is  no  more  courageous,  industrious,  whole-souled 
people  in  the  world  than  the  citizens  of  Robeson,  and  all 
through  the  Lowrie  war,  whether  under  the  command 
of  a  United  States  officer  or  the  Sheriff,  they  conducted 
themselves  with  courage  and  a  high  sense  of  public 
duty.  The  obstacles  these  people  had  to  encounter  in 
suppressing  the  Lowrie  gang  is  not  a  property  of  the 
bomb-proof  critic  or  the  side-walk  loafer,  but  it  is  the 
province  of  truth  and  history  to  delineate  these  facts. 


THE  LOWRIE   HISTORY— APPENDIX  .    159 


APPENDIX. 


DECENDANTS  OF  THE  LOST  COLONY— STRANGE  BLENDING 
OF  INDIAN  AND  WHITE— THEIR  SCHOOL— THEIR  CHAR- 
ARTERISTICS  AND  SOME  TYPES  OF  THE  RACE. 

I  shall  never  forget  the  very  curious  sensation  I  ex- 
perienced as  I  stood  on  a  wagon  in  the  centre  of  more 
than  a  thousand  of  the  Croatans,  at  their  Normal  School 
at  Pate's,  in  Robeson  county,  and  spoke  to  them  in  May. 
Just  a  month  before  I  had  been  at  Roanoke  Island  and 
at  that  classic  spot,  Fort  Raleigh,  and  had  gone  to  the 
edge  and  standing  on  the  crest  of  a  sand-dune  there,  be- 
tween two  wind-tossed  live  oaks,  had  looked  out  across 
the  yellow  waters  of  the  narrow  sound  at  the  banks  be- 
yond, which  separate  the  sound  from  the  sea,  and  look- 
ing further  eastward  yet,  had  seen  the  heaving  water  of 
the  ocean,  stretching  three  thousand  miles  away  and 
more,  towards  that  England  for  which  the  deserted, 
lonely  and  terror-stricken  third  colony  of  Sir  "Walter 
Raleigh  must  have  yearned  so  hopelessly,  in  the  closing 
years  of  that  fateful  experiment  at  settlement  which  the 
great  Knight  made  in  this  State  of  ours. 

A  STRANGE  BLENDING. 

As  I  looked  into  the  faces  of  one  of  the  most  attentive 
audiences*  possible  and  saw  that  strange  blending  of  In- 
dian and  white,  my  mind  went  back  through  the  mist  of 
years  and  there  came  the  reflection  that  there  were  no 
stranger  people  on  the  continent  than  those  before  me. 


*  Written  by  Col.  F.  A.  Old,  of  Raleigh,  N.  C.  Col.  Olds  visited 
that  section  of  Rebeson  County  in  which  the  Croatan  Indians  live, 
and  "wrote  a  series  of  newspaper  articles  as  a  result  of  his  visit. 
This]appendix  contains  these  articles  in  condensed  form. 


160    .  THE  LOWRIE   HISTORY— APPENDIX 

The  Croatans  owe  to  one  man,  Hamilton  McMillan, 
their  status  in  North  Carolina;  their  status  which  forbids 
inter-marriage  except  among  themselves;  which  makes 
them  a  tribe,  and  in  a  way  the  wards  of  the  State;  just 
as  the  Cherokees  of  the  Eastern  Band;  in  the  mountain 
region,  who  have  about  the  same  numerical  strength, 
are  the  wards  of  the  Nation.  The  Cherokees,  however, 
have  had  far  more  done  for  them  than  have  the  Croa- 
tans. 

These  Croatans  were  found  by  the  earliest  people 
who  pushed  up  into  North  Carolina  northward  from  the 
Charleston  settlement  to  be  a  blend  of  Indian  and  En- 
glish; to  have  extremely  neat  houses  though  of  logs;  ex- 
traordinarily good  roads  for  that  period;  well-kept  yards, 
and  to  have  many  peculiarities  of  Old  English  speech. 
Ever  since  that  time  those  peculiarities  have  existed, 
and  they  stand  broadly  out  now.  In  fact  the  Croatans 
are  marked  as  a  psculiar  people.  No  white  man  on 
earth  knows  them  nearly  so  well  as  Hamilton  McMillan, 
of  Red  Springs,  who,  when  in  the  Legislature  of  1887, 
brought  about  their  official  recognition  by  the  State,  se- 
curing a  small  appropriation  for  the  normal  school  and 
giving  them  absolutely  separate  schools,  under  a  distinct 

system. 

ROUTE  TO  INDIAN  COUNTRY. 

This  much  by  way  of  preface.  The  route  into  this 
Indian  country  runs  through  the  fertile  section  west  of 
Lumberton  and  the  lands  were  found  as  fiat  as  a  floor, 
with  very  dark  soil  and  with  streams  which  have  all  the 
clearness  marking  those  which  traverse  the  cypress  and 
juniper  region. 

That  part  of  the  State  has  many  characteristics  of  ex- 


THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY— APPENDIX 


161 


-      ,  S 


The  above  illustration  shows  the  Normal  School  building  at 
Pates.  This  house  has  been  standing  for  some  years.  As  proof  of 
their  appreciation  of  what  the  State  is  doing  for  them  in  regard  to 
education  they  have  purchased  a  tract  of  land  at  Pembroke,  which 
is  situated  about  a  mile  from  the  present  school  site,  on  which  they 
are  now  (1909)  erecting  a  large  modern  school  building. 


162  THE  LOWRIE    HISTORY— APPENDIX. 

treme  eastern  North  Carolina  and  these  Indians,  when 
they  originally  removed  from  the  mainland,  in  what  is 
now  Hyde  county  and  thereabouts,  must  have  found 
the  section  very  home-like  indeed. 

THE    NORMAL  SCHOOL. 

It  was  a  short  walk  along  the  railway  track  to  the 
normal  school,  a  building  half  unpainted  and  standing 
on  the  edge  of  a  pine  grove,  with  a  church  to  one  side, 
and  in  the  rear  one  of  the  public  schools  of  this  race, 
which  is  so  thickset  in  the  country  of  which  Pate's  is  the 
centre,  for,  in  a  small  radius  the  bulk  of  the  Croatans 
live.  In  the  school  were  gathered  the  students,  about 
70  in  number,  and  their  tints  ran  all  the  way  from  the 
deep  copper  color  of  the  Indian  to  almost  perfect  white. 
Beautiful  hair  and  extremely  fine  eyes  was  the  rule 
and  not  the  exception  and  they  carried  themselves  well. 
In  a  little  talk  the  writer  introduced  himself  and  told  the 
purpose  of  his  visit,  which  was  to  see  them  in  their  home 
and  school  life.  They  were  very  kind  in  their  recep- 
tion and  presently  Preston  Locklear,  a  very  striking  type 
of  their  people,  drove  up  his  buggy  and  we  made  ready 
to  make  a  trip  through  their  settlements.  Locklear  ex- 
plained that  his  name  had  become  corrupted  from 
Lockyer,  which  is  very  distinctly  English.  "We  got  pic- 
tures of  the  house,  or  rather  two  houses,  occupied  by 
Mr.  Jacobs,  near  the  school,  the  people  being  of  the  pro- 
nounced Croatan  type,  the  house  being  extremely  well 
built  of  logs,  with  a  wonderful  clean  yard  of  shining 
sand,  with  abounding  shrubbery  and  trees,  and  with  a 
well  curbed  with  a  cypress  log  and  having  an  old-fash- 
ioned and  long  sweep.  Mr.  Jacobs'  mother  is  the  widow 
of  one  of  the  oldest  Methodist  preachers. 


THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY— APPENDIX.  163 

The  next  place  visited  was  the  home  of  Harriet  Gra- 
ham, a  cozy  little  cabin,  with  a  garden  adjoining,  the 
house  of  logs,  and  the  furniture  all  hand-made,  and  the 
surroundings  looking  very  Indian-like  indeed.  As  guides 
there  went  with  us  two  Croatan  girls. 

Locklear  said  his  son  was  a  doctor  and  had  been  out 
in  the  Indian  Territory  and  was  at  once  recognized  by 
the  Indians  there  as  being  of  their  race  of  people.  He 
said  his  son  had  graduated  at  Baltimore. 

WASHINGTON  LOWERY. 

The  third  place  visited  was  the  most  striking  of  all; 
this  being  the  home  of  the  venerable  Washington  Lowery, 
or  Lowrie,  known  far  and  near  among  his  people  as 
"Uncle  "Wash".  His  home,  built  of  logs  like  the  rest, 
embraces  several  buildings,  and  there  was  a  porch  of 
unique  design,  also  of  logs.  The  old  man  was  par- 
tially paralyzed,  but  he  talked  very  well  indeed.  He 
had  a  good  deal  to  say  about  his  people  and  said  he 
had  heard  his  "feyther"  and  "grand-feyther"  speak  over 
and  over  again  about  their  having  come  from  Roanoke 
Island.  He  said  there  was  no  doubt  about  the  orgin  of 
his  people,  and  seemed  to  be  very  proud  of  it  indeed. 
He  referred  to  the  fact  that  he  had  been  out  in  the  In- 
dian Territory  a  good  many  years  ago  and  said  he  had 
looked  into  the  question  of  citizenship  or  tribeship  there 
and  that  the  Indians  had  recognized  him  as  of  their  peo- 
ple, but  that  their  chiefs  wanted  his  papers  to  show 
whence  he  came.  "Uncle  Wash"  was  seated  in  a  home  ■ 
made  chair,  the  seat  of  which  was  of  cowskin  with  the 
hair  on,  and  all  about  inside  and  out  were  home-made 
furniture    and     appliances,     old-time    things,  spinning- 


164  THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY  -APPENDIX. 

wheels,  looms,  etc.,  and  his  wife  brought  out  home-made 
cloth  for  winter  and  summer  use.  Her  name  is  Kather- 
ine  and  some  of  the  cloth  of  jeans,  brown  in  color,  which 
she  had  made,  she  said  she  had  dyed  with  walnut 
leaves.  Then  there  was  homespun  of  several  colors, 
some  of  it  dyed  with  indigo,  which  has  been  raised  on 
the  place  for  generations.  We  went  all  through  this 
Lowery  home,  in  one  great  room  being  four  beds,  but 
the  walls  being  quite  open,  so  that  there  was  plen- 
ty of  ventilation.  Lowery  said  he  was  kin  to 
the  Cherokees  in  this  State  and  that  all  his  people  were; 
that  he  had  known  this  close  kinship  always  and  that 
he  had  told  the  Cherokee  and  Creek  Indians,  when  he 
had  visited  them  in  their  own  territory  about  this,  and 
that  they  had  received  him  well.  He  said  he  had  gone 
to  the  Territory  the  "year  of  the  shake,"  by  this  mean- 
ing in  1886,  when  the  great  earth-quake  shocks  were 
felt.  That  was  the  year  before  the  Croatans  were  given 
citizenship.  Lowery  said  that  most  of  the  Croatan 
houses  were  in  the  style  of  his,  but  some  double  houses 
were  seen  with  rooms  right  and  left,  and  a  broad  open 
space  between,  all  under  one  roof.  Such  houses  as 
these  used  to  be  common  in  the  North  Carolina  moun- 
tains. 

It  was  learned  that  they  felt  very  proud  of  how  well 
they  had  preserved  themselves  as  a  people,  in  view  of 
the  fact  that  the  constitution  of  1835,  which  took  away 
from  everybody  except  the  whites  the  right  to  vote,  had 
put  them  beyond  the  pales  and  made  them  virtually 
Ishmaelites.  Under  such  conditions  no  race  could  have 
preserved  its  purity  better  than  the  Croatans.  There 
are  people,  some  even  in  Robeson  county  perhaps,  who 


THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY—APPENDIX.  165 

speak  of  the  Croatans  as  if  they  were  negroes,  but  never 
was  there  anything  further  from  the  truth. 

THE  INDIAN  TRAITS. 

They  have  the  Indian  traits  of  suspicion  and  of 
revenge.  I  had  been  among  the  Indians  in  western 
North  Carolina  and  standing  there  amidst  these  people, 
could  not  help  thinking  that  if  they  could  pay  a  visit  to 
their  Cherokee  brethren  they  would  be  greeted  as  of 
their  very  own  people.  Yet  as  a  race  they  know  nothing 
about  the  Cherokees.  Cut  off  from  everything,  for  so 
many  years,  for  they  had  always  voted  up  to  1835,  they 
are  entitled  to  wonderful  credit  for  what  they  have 
done.  Now  they  all  vote  under  the  "grandfather  clause". 
They  used  to  be  largely  Republicans,  but  are  now 
mainly  Democrats.  In  years  past  politicians  sought  to 
use  them. 

It  is  in  language  construction  that  the  teachers  find 
the  greatest  trouble  with  them.  They  have  so  many 
old  phrases  and  such  old  pronunciation  of  not  a  few 
words  that  a  friend  remarked  that  they  talked  almost 
exactly  like  the  peoj:>le  in  some  English  countries.  Upon 
the  roll  of  the  pupils  in  schools  were  names  borne  by 
the  Roanoke  colonists.  Assurances  were  given  that 
these  people  had  made  as  much  relative  improvement 
in  the  past  25  years  as  any  others  in  their  section  of 
the  State  or  in  any  other  part  of  it,  yet  they  started  at 
zero.  Of  course  there  is  plenty  of  room  for  further  im- 
provement. They  are  domestic  in  their  life  and  they 
need  only  two  things,  these  being  abstention  from  liquor 
and  the  cultivation  of  a  higher  standard  of  morals  in 
home  life.  They  have  been  the  prey  of  designing  white 
men,  who  have  gone  in  their  section  for  evil  purposes 


166  THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY  -  APPENDIX. 

these  many  years.  This  and  their  past  treatment  by 
the  whites  have  been  the  chief  difficulties  in  securing 
their  confidence.  The  lack  of  relics  and  tradition 
among  them  is  most  impressive,  but  yet  what  have  the 
Cherokees  in  western  North  Carolina  to  show  now  of 
the  old  days  except  what  the  burial  mounds  contain? 
In  the  eastern  part  of  the  State  the  Indians  have  so 
faded  away  that  they  are  not  even  a  memory,  the  last 
remnant  of  them  having  been  in  Bertie  county. 

LOVE  GAY  CLOTHING. 

Another  Indian  trait  is  the  love  for  bright  clothing. 
I  have  seen  this  in  the  West  and  also  among  the  North 
Carolina  Cherokees  and  among  the  Florida  Seminoles. 
Red,  blue  and  yellow  are  the  delight  particularly  of  the 
girls.  The  beauty  of  the  girls  was  a  subject  of  general 
comment,  most  having  straight  hair,  dense  black,  but  in 
some  cases  it  curled  gracefully. 

In  the  old  times  these  people  used  to  work  a  great  deal 

in  the  turpentine  and  lumber  interests  but  these    have 

largely  passed  away.      The  negroes  do  not  like  the  Cro- 

atans.      There  are  very    few    negroes    in    the    Croatan 

country. 

HOME  OF  RHODA  LOWERY. 

Rhoda  Lowery,  the  widow  of  Henry  Berry  Lowery, 
who,  in  1870,  was  the  terror  of  that  part  of  the  State. 
Those  were  in  the  old  days  when  Maxton,  now  so 
thriving  a  town  and  making  such  a  brave  show  along 
the  railway,  was  but  a  straggling  village  and  was  called 
Shoe  Heel,  (a  corruption  of  Quhele,  it  seems).  Those 
were  the  times  when  the  Croatan  Indian  settlement  was 
known  as  Scuffletown.      That  was  a  corruption  too,  for 


THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY— APPENDIX.  167 

in  the  long-ago  it  was  "Scoville  Town",  taking  its  name 
from  a  family  of  the  tribe  which  was  prominent.  At 
the  time  of  our  visit  there  was  not  a  suggestion  of  age 
in  Rhoda's  face,  form  or  hair,  and  it  seemed  hard  to 
realize  that  she  had  figured  38  years  ago  and  must  be 
well  on  toward  60.  One  would  have  guessed  something 
around  40  as  her  age.  Her  father  was  a  Yankee  and 
her  mother  a  Sweet,  the  latter  being  a  family  in  South 
Carolina,  living  in  a  place  where  there  are  several  of 
the  Croatan  families,  one  of  these  having  formerly  been 
the  Dirigos,  though  this  is  corrupted  into  quite  another 
name.  Rhoda  spoke  of  Henry  Berry  Lowery  as  the 
handsomest  man  she  ever  saw.  She  has  several  acres 
of  ground  and  raises  on  this  everything  she  needs. 

The  Croatans  are  no  believers  in  race  suicide,  Joseph 
Locklear  had  twenty-five  children,  one  wife  being  the 
mother  of  them  all.  Another  woman,  Missouri  Lock- 
lear, who  is  only  28  years  old  and  has  eleven  children, 
there  being  two  sets  of  twins.  Large  families  are  the  rule 
and  it  was  a  sight  to  see  the  farm  wagons  and  other 
vehicles  coming  to  the  commencement,  packed  with 
children,  these  looking  like  animated  bouquets,  as  far 
as  the  girls  were  concerned,  so  gay  were  the  colors  of 
dresses,  hats  and  sashes.  There  are  some  two  thousand 
school  children  of  these  people  and  there  are  seven  hun- 
dred voters.  They  voted  always  until  1838,  and  then 
were  deprived  of  the  ballot  until  1868,  being  nearly 
twenty  years  before  the  time  when  they  were  set  apart 
by  the  State  as  a  separate  people.  No  one  knows  ex- 
actly the  number  of  them,  but  there  are  pretty  close  to 
3,500.  Some  of  them  raise  as  many  as  75  bales  of  cot- 
ton. More  of  them  are  Baptist  than  of  other  denomina- 
tions, most  of  the  remainder  belonging  to  the  Northern 


168  THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY— APPENDIX. 

Methodist   Church.       There  is  a  number  of  preachers 
among  them. 

The  word  "mon",  an  old  English  form  of  "man",  was 
heard  over  and  over  again  and  one  of  the  chiefs  said 
that  a  favorite  gesture  and  phrase  of  some  of  the  Croa- 
tans,  when  excited,  was  to  strike  the  palm  of  one  hand 
with  the  fist  and  say:  "Dom  my  hand  to  the  bone".  It 
is  said  that  this  was  quite  an  oath  in  some  parts  of  En- 
gland a  long  time  ago  and  yet  obtains  there.  The  names 
Lowery,  Locklear,  Oxendine,  Dial,  Bullard,  Sampson, 
Brooks  and  Chavis  were  heard,  those  of  Locklear  and 
Lowery  predominating.  It  was  found  that  the  Raleigh 
colonists  names  of  Lowery,  Sampson,  Harris,  Jones, 
Brooks  and  Chavis  were  matched  by  the  students,  while 
in  the  community  the  names  of  a  score  of  the  white  col- 
onists are  perpetuated.  A  subject  furnished  by  this 
community  for  a  poem  which  if  properly  wrought  out 
would  surpass  in  pathos  David's  story  of  the  dispersion 
of  the  Jews  or  Long  Fellow's  "Evangeline".  To  tell 
the  truth,  down  under  the  surface  there  was  just  a  tinge 
of  sadness  in  these  people.  Not  all  the  white  people  are 
friends  to  these  Croatans.  The  more  pronounced  type 
of  Croatan,  the  more  solemn  and  dignified  they  are  and 
as  stoical  as  any  red  man. 

COUNTRY  NEEDS  DRAINAGE. 

The  great  need  of  the  country  of  the  Croatans  is  good 
drainage.  A  lot  of  it  is  in  swamp.  As  a  matter  of  fact 
a  county  drainage  system  for  Robeson  county,  giving  an 
opportunity  for  cross  drainage  would  be  a  grand  invest- 
ment. The  land  is  good  to  work  and  the  crops  show  it. 
The  normal  school  house  stands  in  the  very  centre  of 
what  used  to  be    "Scuffletown".       Mention   has   been 


THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY     APPENDIX.  169 

made  of  the  isolation  of  these  people.  There  was,  years 
ago  a  marriage  of  a  Croatan  woman  to  a  negro,  this 
having  occurred  before  therecognition  of  the  racein  1887. 
This  was  followed  by  an  arrest  and  conviction. 

The  Lumber  river,  one  of  the  most  striking  streams 
in  the  lower  section  of  the  State,  runs  through  the  heart 
of  the  Croatan  country.  The  river  is  entirely  fed  by 
springs  and  is  bordered  by  cypress  and  juniper,  which 
give  it  the  tint  of  such  eastern  streams  as  the  Pasquotank 
river,  for  example,  intensely  dark  in  the  mass,  but  very 
clear  in  a  small  quantity,  and  extremely  palatable  as 
drinking  water.  This  was  another  similarity  between 
the  section  where  these  people  are  settled  and  that  from 
whence  their  ancestors  came. 

GROWERS  OF  GRAPES. 

Almost  every  house  has  nearby  it  a  scuppernong  vine 
and  nowhere  in  this  State  is  this  grape  finer.  Of  all  the 
grapes  this  one  is  the  best  liked  by  these  people.  When 
asked  if  any  of  them  had  ever  visited  Roanoke  island 
the  reply  was  made  none  except  the  Revels  family. 
These  went  to  the  island  and  the  site  of  the  old  fort  a 
good  many  years  ago  before  the  site  was  marked.  They 
went  to  various  places  in  that  section,  on  the  banks  and 
on  the  mainland.  Revels  was  a  United  States  Senator 
from  Mississippi  and  was  classed  as  a  colored  man,  the 
Croatan  not  then  having  any  distinct  status. 

The  Croatans  increase  very  rapidly  in  numbers  under 
sanitary  conditions,  and  must  soon  become  important 
factors  for  good  or  evil  in  that  part  of  the  State.  The 
intelligent  and  leading  men  among  them  are  very  hope- 
ful for  the  future  and  the  interest  the  State  has  manifest- 
ed in  their  educational  progress  lately  is  arousing  general 


170  THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY— APPENDIX. 

interest,  if  not  enthusiasm,  as  an  illustration  of  which 
they  have  themselves  purchased,  near  Pembroke 
ten  acres  of  land,  upon  which  to  erect  a  better 
school  building.  "While  many  of  them  own  land,  none 
of  them  are  wealthy.  "Without  aid  from  the  State  their 
educational  progress  must  still  be  retarded  by  many  diffi 
cult  problems.  They  are  not  able  themselves  to  provide 
such  a  school  as  they  need  and  the  fostering  care  of  the 
State  is  their  hope.  Their  speech  and  manners  have 
always  marked  them  as  a  peculiar  people.  Of  course 
they  still  feel  deeply  the  injustice  done  them  by  the  laws 
of  1835,  which  forced  nearly  all  the  older  men  and 
women  into  involuntary  ignorance,  but  they  now  fully 
realize  the  meaning  to  their  prosperity  of  the  State's 
effort  to  aid  them  in  educating  their  children. 

BECOMING  GOOD  CITIZENS. 

Many  persons  have  been  told  that  the  Croatans  are  all 
revengeful  and  hate  the  whites.  This  was  a  wrong  im- 
pression. Those  who  have  been  educated  at  schools 
are  now,  almost  without  exception,  among  the  best  citi- 
zens of  the  Croatans.  "Whiskey  and  bad  white  men 
were  once  the  curse  of  the  Croatan  people,  but  here  there 
is  a  rapid  and  radical  change ;  a  large  part  of  the  Croatan 
vote  was  cast  for  prohibition.  The  law  of  1835  closed  to 
these  people  every  avenue  of  hope  and  said  in  effect 
that  they  must  submit  to  being  absorbed  by  the  negro 
race.  Their  white  neighbors  withdrew  many  privi- 
leges which  had  previously  been  granted  them.  It  must  be 
borne  in  mind  that  this  intolerable  condition  existed  for 
over  fifty  years.  The  Croatans  have  very  quick  per- 
ceptions, distinguishing  readily  between  a   flatterer  and 


THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY— APPENDIX.  171 

a  friend,  and  they  say  frankly  that  they  hold  the  former 
in  contempt,  and  esteem  the  latter  highly. 

QUEER  OLD  REMEDIES. 

It  was  found  that  these  people  use  remedies  at  least 
which  were  prescribed  in  English  medical  works  as  far 
back  as  1706,  and  one  of  these  is  so  singular  that  it  de- 
serves to  be  recorded,  it  being  three  live  lice  in  a  drink 
of  whiskey,  it  being  esteemed  two  hundred  years  ago 
and  now  as  a  sovereign  for  fever.  Thus  while  there 
are  a  few  traditions,  things  are  handed  down.  I  have  no 
doubt  that  houses  look  now  as  they  did  say  200  years 
ago  or  more.  Certainly  in  no  parts  of  the  State  except 
among  the  Cherokees  and  a  few  of  the  whites  in  the 
wilder  portions  of  the  mountains,  are  there  so  many 
home-made  things.  The  houses  simply  abound  with 
them.  These  people  are  good  shots  and  when  they  do 
shoot  usually  kill.  One  lady  at  Pembroke  still  carries 
in  her  body  a  ball  from  the  gun  of  Henry  Lowery,  who 
fired  it  at  her  father.  They  love  to  fish  and  hunt.  The 
shades  of  color  are  as  varied  as  one  can  see  in  a  walk 
in  Mexico,  and  some  of  the  pronounced  Indian  faces  are 
wonderfully  like  those  of  the  Mexican  Indians  (not  the 
peons),  while  others  for  tint  and  outline  will  com- 
pare with  those  in  a  white  community.  The  eyes 
are  really  the  haunting  things.  There  are  some  women 
of  ill  repute  and  there  are  some  who  sell  whiskey,  but 
the  race  is  on  the  uplift.  Yet  it  has,  in  largest  measure, 
to  do  the  working  out  of  its  own  fate  and  destiny.  An- 
derson Locklear  two  years  ago  went  to  Washington, 
had  an  audience  with  the  President  and  was  told    bv 

s 

the  latter  of  his  appreciation  of  Locklear's  invitation  to 
visit  North  Carolina  and  Roanoke  island,  the  original 


172  THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY—APPENDIX. 

home  of  his  people,  Indians  and  whites.  The  President 
said  that  the  history  of  the  Croatans  greatly  interested 
him. 

It  is  found  that  the  Croatans  have,  to  a  remarkable 
degree,  that  sense  of  direction  which  is  peculiar  to  all  the 
types  of  Indians  and  which  is  so  acute  as  to  be  almost  an 
instinct.  Several  of  their  people  spoke  about  their  use  of 
cross  bows,  and  so  far  as  can  be  ascertained  they  were 
the  only  Indians  in  this  country  who  used  these  wea- 
pons, which  originated  on  the  other  side  of  the  Atlantic, 
and  which  the  English  used  up  to  the  time  of  Sir  Walter 
Raleigh. 

Justice  is  but  too  often  spoken  of  as  tardy,  and  surely 
the  case  of  the  Croatan  Indians  of  North  Carolina  is  one 
which  proves  the  accuracy  of  this  general  statement. 
It  required  three  hundred  years  for  them  to  come  to 
their  own  again,  the  descendents  of  the  "Lost  Colony  of 
Roanoke",  and  of  these  Indians  on  the  North  Carolina 
coast  who  were  described  by  the  historians  of  the  1587 
expedition  by  the  English  to  these  shores  as  a  very  noble, 
well-favored  and  splendidly  formed  people,  as  indeed  is 
shown  by  the  water-color  drawing  made  by  John 
White,  the  artist  of  this  noted  expedition  sent  out 
by  that  prince  of  exploiters,  Sir  Walter  Raleigh,  which 
landed  at  Roanoke  Island.  It  is  strange,  but  true,  that 
the  writer  made  the  first  printed  suggestion  that  the  Croa- 
tan Indians  of  to-day  are  the  descendents  of  Governor 
White's  "Lost  Colony",  this  suggestion  having  been 
made  July  31st,  1885,  though  the  idea  had  been  advanced 
by  Mr.  Hamilton  McMillan,  of  Robeson  county,  North 
Carolina,  who  has  spent  much  of  his  life  in  the  country 
of  the  Croatans  and  who  knows  more  of  their  history 
and  tradition  than  any  other  living  man.    It  was  in  1887, 


THE  LOWRIE    HISTORY— APPENDIX  173 

while  a  member  of  the  North  Carolina  Legislature,  that 
Mr.  McMillan  advanecd  the  idea  and  it  was  through  his 
personal  influence  with  that  body  that  this  tribe  was 
given  recognition.  In  1888  he  embodied  his  opinions  in 
a  brochure  which  advanced  internal  evidence  and  tra- 
dition with  historical  evidence  in  favor  of  the  survival 
of  the  "Lost  Colony"  in  the  persons  of  the  Croatans  of 

this  day. 

******* 

RALEIGH'S  FIRST  EXPEDITION. 

There  was  in  1584  the  first  expedition,  under  Ral- 
eigh's auspices,  which  landed  on  the  North  Carolina 
coast,  passed  through  an  inlet  and  found  the  isle  of 
Roanoke,  the  largest  in  North  Carolina  with  a  fortified 
village,  the  people  being  declared  by  these  first  explor- 
ers to  be  "gentle,  loving  and  faithful,  void  of  all  guile 
and  treason  and  such  as  live  after  the  manner  of  the 
golden  age".  These  first  English  explorers,  since  they 
could  not  be  called  colonists,  remained  here  only  two 
months,  had  friendly  relations  with  tho  Indians  and 
spent  all  their  time  making  explorations  but  made  no 
effort  to  effect  a  settlement,  returning  to  England  and 
carrying  with  them  two  natives,  both  chiefs,  Manteo  and 
Wanchese,  who  received  great  attention  in  England  and 
who  were  brought  back  by  the  next  expedition.  Man- 
teo remaining  to  the  last  the  good  friend  of  the  white 
men  while  Manchese  became  their  unlenting  enemy. 
The  accounts  of  the  Englishmen  took  back  of  this  new 
world,  which  Raleigh  named  "Virginia"  in  honor  of  the 
so-called  Virgin  Queen  Elizabeth,  set  England  in  a 
flame,  and  bold  adventurers  rallied  for  a  new  journey, 
the  expedition  sailing  early  in  1585,  Sir  Richard  Gren- 


174  THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY- APPENDIX. 

ville,  Raleigh's  cousin,  commanding.  Virginia  was  the  gen- 
eral name  given  all  the  territory  which  the  English  claimed 
on  the  basis  of  all  discoveries,  but  it  seems  that  there  were 
two  provinces,  one  called  Carolana  and  the  other  Caro- 
lina, these  adjoining,  but  Carolana  soon  went  out  of  ex- 
istence, if  indeed  it  really  existed,  and  the  name  Caro- 
lina covered  all  the  territory  within  the  charter  of  1663, 
this  being  presently  divided  so  that  in  1719  the  govern- 
ments of  North  Carolina  and  South  Carolina  were  made 
entirely  distinct.  In  the  second  expedition  which  Ral- 
eigh sent  over  were  some  of  the  greattst  minds  of  that 
great  age,  including  Thomas  Chavendish,  Thomas  Ha- 
riot,  John  White,  Phillip  Amadas,  who  had  been  on  the 
former  expedition,  and  Ralph  Lane.  Grenville,  high- 
tempered  always  though  brave  as  a  lion,  burned  a  town 
of  the  Indians  and  destroyed  their  corn  crop  because 
one  of  them  had  stolen  a  silver  cup.  This  act  was  to 
bear  fruit  which  soon  brought  woe  to  the  white  men. 
Grenville  set  a  colony  on  Roanoke  Island  with  Lane  as 
Governor  and  in  the  late  summer  returned  to  England. 
He  and  Lane  had  had  hot  disputes  on  the  outward  voy- 
age and  Lane  seems  to  have  been  aware  that  no  good 
was  intended.  The  colony  spent  much  time  in  explora- 
tion, and  it  is  remarkable  how  much  of  the  territory  of 
the  new  world  it  visited.  It  went  up  into  what  is  now 
Virginia,  near  what  is  now  Norfolk,  explored  the 
Roanoke  river,  which  the  natives  called  Moratoke, 
this  indeed  being  the  meaning  for  many  years.  This 
time  the  natives  were  unfriendly  and  there  was  fighting 
during  several  of  the  expeditions  The  white  men  had 
depended  upon  the  natives  for  food,  this  being  usually 
hominy,  made  from  Indian  corn,  potatoes  and  various 
other  roots,   fish  and   game.       Hunger   pressed  so   close 


THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY-   APPENDIX.  175 

that  this  colony  had  a  council  on  one  of  its  expeditions, 
but  the  explorers  showed  their  bravery  by  deciding  to 
persevere  as  long  as  half  a  pint  of  corn  was  left  to  the 
man. 

They  lived  on  any  sort  of  food,  even  on  the  meat  of 
dogs,  and  almost  starved,  as  they  had  no  seed  corn,  the 
Indians  refusing  to  furnish  it,  and  also  planning  to  starve 
the  English  to  death  by  going  away  and  leaving  all  their 
planting  grounds  on  the  island  of  Roanoke  unsown. 
The  English  had  no  skill  in  catching  fish  with  weirs, 
which  the  Indians  used  to  a  great  extent.  The  Indians 
formed  a  league  against  the  whites  who  were  on  short 
commons  and  who  had  to  watch  day  and  night  to  guard 
against  massacre.  Governor  Lane  held  as  a  hostage,  one 
of  the  princes,  Skyco  by  name,  and  treated  him  most 
kindly,  and  this  kindness  bore  fruit,  for  he  betrayed  the 
Indian  plot  to  massacre  every  settler,  the  English  acting 
instantly,  notifying  their  would-be  murderers  that  they 
desired  a  grand  council  on  the  mainland,  going  there 
well  armed  and  putting  the  then  king  and  the  chief  con- 
spiritors  to  death.  The  colonists  then  seized  a  good 
supply  of  corn  and  planted  enough  to  last  them  two 
years,  but  suddenly  Sir  Francis  Drake  appeared  with  a 
great  fleet  of  23  vessels,  offering  to  give  the  Englishmen 
food,  ammunition,  clothing  and  boats,  and  men  for  the 
latter.  This  generous  offer  was  accepted  but  a  great 
storm  scattered  the  fleet  and  everything  became  gloomy 
in  the  extreme.  Sir  Richard  Grenville  had  promised  to 
come  over  but  there  was  no  sign  of  him  and  so  the  colo- 
nists, in  the  lowest  spirits,  decided  to  go  home  with 
Drake.  There  had  been  108  of  them  but  over  a  dozen 
had  been  killed  or  died.  This  was  the  sad  end  of  the 
first  actual  English  settlement  in  what  is  now  the  terri- 


176  THE  LOWRIE   HISTORY— APPENDIX 

tory  of  the  United  States.  Directly  after  Lane  left 
Roanoke  a  ship  which  Raleigh  had  fitted  out  and  pro- 
vided with  all  necessaries  arrived  there  and  looked  for 
the  colonists  but  found  them  not  and  two  weeks  later 
Grenville  came  with  three  ships  and  also  explored  the 
country  fruitlessly.  He  was  so  anxious  to  retain  pos- 
session of  it  for  England  that  he  made  the  bold  venture 
of  leaving  15  men  behind  him  on  Roanoke  island  pro- 
viding these  with  full  supplies  and  plenty  of  arms.  Eng- 
lishmen saw  the  15  no  more,  for  when  a  year  later 
John  White  came  over  he  was  told  by  the  savages  that 
these  men  had  either  been  killed  by  the  Indians  or 
drowed' while  trying  to  go  from  Roanoke  island  to  Croa- 
tan. 

COLONISTS  LIKED  COUNTRY. 

The  colonists  were  charmed  with  the  country,  finding 
grapes  very  sweet  and  large ;  papatour,  which  is  now 
known  as  Indian  corn;  opernauk,  the  native  name  for 
the  potato  now  known  as  the  Irish  potato,  and  the  uppo- 
woc,  or  tobacco,  which  was  so  much  affected  by  the 
Indian  and  which  made  itself  a  wonder  among  the  Eng- 
lishmen at  once  on  both  side  of  the  ocean.  In  1587  Sir 
Walter  Raleigh,  with  his  usual  perseverance,  made  ready 
a  new  colony,  made  John  "White  the  Governor  with  12 
assistants,  who  were  virtually  named  as  alderman,  of 
what  was  to  be  the  "City  of  Raleigh  in  Virginia".  This 
colony  numbering  117,  of  whom  17  were  women,  10  of 
these  accompanying  their  husbands.*  Roanoke  has 
really  a  very  poor  harbor  and  Raleigh  told  his  people 
to  make  their  home  on  the  Chesapeak  bay,  to  which  one 
party  of  Governor  Lane's  explorers  had  gone,  but  this 
step  was  not  taken.  It  was  the  22nd  of  July  when  the 
little   fleet  reached  this  coast  and   Governor  White  at 


THE  LOWRIE   HISTORY— APPENDIX 


177 


The  above  illustration  shows  the  photographs  of  three  typical 
Croatan  Indians.  Reading  from  left  to  right  they  are  —  Evander 
Lowrie,  Sias  Locklear  and  Rev.  Gilbert  Locklear.  The  last  named 
is  very  erect  and  shows  many  of  the  characteristics  of  the  typical 
Indian.     He  is  one  of  their  leading  ministers. 


178  THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY— APPENDIX. 

once  started  to  Roanoke  island.  "White  had  been  with 
Grenville  on  the  1585  expedition.  He  was  one  of  the 
best  artists  of  his  time  and  made  very  beautiful  and  ex- 
act pictures  of  the  natives,  as  well  as  the  fauna  and 
flora  of  the  new  country,  these  being  shown  to  Raleigh 
and  aiding  much  in  developing  interest  in  the  work  of 
colonization.  In  1590  they  were  engraved  on  copper 
and  printed  in  a  number  of  languages  by  Theodore 
DeBray,  the  chief  German  artist  and  printer  of  that 
time.  White  was  of  pacific  temper  and  his  purpose  was 
to  be  friendly  to  the  Indians.  As  soon  as  his  boat  had 
pushed  off  from  the  ship  he  said  that  the  sailors  in  the 
latter  had  been  directed  not  to  take  back  to  England 
any  of  the  planters,  but  to  leave  them  on  the  island.  It 
was  three  days  before  the  planters  arrived,  and  they, 
sturdy  men  and  women,  prepared  to  make  their  home 
on  the  island.  On  the  13th  of  August,  1587,  Manteo, 
who  remained  the  faithful  friend  of  the  Indians  was 
baptized  by  a  clergyman  of  the  established  Church  and 
was  made  Lord  of  Roanoke  and  Dassamonguepeuk,  this 
being  the  only  title  of  nobility  ever  given  to  a  native  of 
the  new  world  by  English  authorization.  Five  days  af- 
ter this  'baptism  Governor  Whites  daughter,  Eleanor 
Dare,  the  wife  of  Ananias  Dare,  one  of  the  assistants, 
gave  birth  to  a  daughter  who  was  christened  "Virginia", 
and  who  was  the  first  child  of  English  parentage  born 
in  this  hemisphere.  The  colonists  found  they  needed 
many  things,  in  spite  of  what  was  thought  to  be  of  am- 
ple provision  for  them,  and  they  by  vote  decided  that 
"White,  their  Governor,  should  go  home  as  an  agent  for 
all,  so  as  to  supply  every  need. 


THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY— APPENDIX.  179 

RALEIGH'S  TROUBLES. 

He  sailed  nine  days  after  his  baby  granddaughter  had 
been  baptized  and  his  eyes  were  the  last  which  saw  the 
ill-fated  colonists.  England  was  then  in  a  stir.  The 
great  fight  against  Roman  Catholic  Spain  was  on  and 
the  country  needed  every  man  to  do  his  duty.  "With 
wonderful  perseverence,  in  the  midst  of  all  the  terrors 
of  the  time,  Raleigh  found  means  to  send  "White  back  to 
Virginia  in  1588.  He  sailed  in  April  with  fifteen  more 
planters  and  bountiful  supplies  but  his  vessels  met  war 
vessels  of  France  and  one  of  them  was  boarded  and 
plundered.  Both  vessels  returned  to  England.  This 
was  the  last  effort  that  year  to  help  the  Roanoke  colon- 
ists, and  it  was  in  February,  1591,  that  "White  through 
Raleigh's  influence,  started  for  Virginia.  The  comman- 
der of  his  little  fleet  thought  more  of  plundering  the 
Spaniards  and  the  French  than  of  the  new  colony  and 
so  it  was  August  before  the  latter  was  reached.  Heavy 
storms  came  on  and  seven  of  the  best  men  were  lost  by 
the  capsizing  of  a  boat  in  trying  to  reach  Roanoke 
island.  One  of  the  paintings  made  by  "White  in  1585 
showed  a  small  boat  sailing  towards  that  island,  in  its 
bow  standing  a  man  holding  aloft  the  cross.  On  this  re- 
lief visit  "White  went  personally  in  a  boat  and  after  a 
trying  journey  anchored  at  night  in  a  little  bay  near  the 
fort  which  had  been  built  for  the  colonists;  gave  a  call 
upon  the  trumpets  and  also  a  number  of  familiar  En- 
glish airs,  but  there  was  no  answer.  "When  daylight 
came  the  party  landed  and  saw  on  the  shore,  cut  on  a 
pine  tree,  "CRO, "  advanced  towards  the  fort,  found  all 
the  houses  removed  and  all  the  place  enclosed  with  a 
palisade  of  tree  trunks  of  large  size.      "Within    the  little 


180  THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY— APPENDIX. 

fortress  they  found  pig  iron  and  lead;  iron  guns,  cannon 
shot  and  other  heavy  articles  scattered  here  and  there, 
overgrown  with  grass,  chests  dug  up  their  contents 
scattered  around.  "White's  own  books  being  rotten  from 
the  rain  and  his  armor  nearly  destroyed  by  rust.  On 
one  of  the  gate  posts  at  the  entrance  to  the  fort  on  a 
great  pine  five  feet  above  the  ground,  in  large  letters, 
was  deeply  cut  the  word  "Croatan".  There  was  not 
another  sign.  White,  disheartened  at  this  vanishing  of 
his  colony,  went  back  to  his  fleet  and  pleaded  with  the 
captain  in  command  to  carry  him  to  Croatan,  which  the 
latter  agreed  to  do,  but  delayed  day  after  day,  then  de- 
clared his  supplies  were  too  short  and  sailed  away  to 
the  "West  Indies.  Such  was  "White's  farewell  to  his  col- 
ony, his  daughter  and  his  grandchild.  This  was  the 
fifth  and  last  voyage  of  White,  for  it  seems  he  remained 
one  whole  year  there  and  this  makes  it  very  probable 
he  was  iu  the  first  expedition  of  1584. 

OBLIVION  FALLS  LIKE  A  PALL. 

Oblivion  fell  like  a  pall  upon  the  colony  and  it  came 
to  be  known  through  all  the  years  as  "The  Lost  Colony 
of  Roanoke".  Time  was  to  lift  the  curtain  and  let  in  the 
light.  The  Anglo-Saxons  have  ever  had  a  deep-seated 
antipathy  towards  intermarriage  with  people  of  another 
color,  whether  it  be  brown,  black  or  yellow.  The  French, 
less  squeamish  in  these  matters,  began  at  a  very  early  day 
to  foster  such  intermarriages,  and  this  was  one  of  the 
factors  which  brought  about  the  influence  the  French 
had  with  their  Indian  allies.  As  a  matter  of  fact  the  In- 
dians, as  the  whites  found  them,  certainly  in  this  part  of 
the  world,  were  a  seemly  people,  as  the  well  executed 
pictures  by  John  "White,  (the  originals  of  which,  in  color, 


THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY— APPENDIX.  181 

are  in  the  British  Museum,  the  United  States  and  the 
State  of  North  Carolina  having  duplicates,)  show  clearly 
that  both  the  Indian  men  and  women  were  comely  to  a 
very  remarkable  degree  and  the  various  work  they  did 
showed  if  not  civilization,  something  which  bordered 
upon  it.  To  tell  the  truth  it  has  always  been  the  whites 
who  have  brought  upon  themselves  the  Indian  hatred 
and  revenge  and  whether  it  be  in  Peru,  Mexico  or  the 
United  States  this  has  been  over  and  over  again  the 
case.  Yet  as  to  these  lost  colonists  and  the  Indians  with 
whom  they  were  taken  to  Croatan  there  must  have  been 
intermarriage.  Many  things  go  to  prove  this,  among 
them  being  the  radical  characteristics  of  the  Croatan  In- 
dians, who  are  now  in  several  counties  south  of  Raleigh, 
the  capital  of  the  State  and  at  least  200  miles  in  an  air 
line  from  Roanoke  Island.  There  are  blendings  of  the 
Indian  race  and  that  of  the  Englishmen;  the  hair,  eyes, 
etc.,  showing  the  influence  of  the  English  strain.  Croa- 
tan or  Croatoan  was  southward  from  Roanoke  Island 
and  directly  upon  the  coast,  and  it  was  very  near  the 
old  town  of  Beaufort,  in  Carteret  county,  one  of  the  old- 
est maps  date  1666,  showing  it  under  this  name.  The 
sound  directly  west  of  Roanoke  Island  still  bears  the 
name  of  Croatan.  Some  historians  think  the  name  of  the 
tribe  as  Croatan  and  of  their  island  Croatan.  Really  it  is 
not  an  island  at  all  but  one  of  those  long  strips  of  sandkno  wn 
as  "banks",  which  are  barriers  between  the  ocean  and  the 
chain  of  North  Carolina  sounds.  The  Indians  called 
their  own  territory  Dasamonguepeuk.  The  name  Croa- 
toan carved  upon  the  great  post  of  the  palisade  at  Fort 
Raleigh  was  placed  according  to  secret  understanding 
between  Governor  White  and  his  colonists  to  designate 
the  place  to  which  the  latter  had  gone,  in  case  they  left 


182  THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY  -  APPENDIX. 

the  island.  White  knew  Croatan  was  an  island  south- 
ward from  Roanoke  because  he  said  Manteo  and  the 
friendly  savages  of  Roanoke  Island  were  born  there. 
When  JohnLawson  the  first  real  historian  of  North  Car- 
olina, visited  this  section  in  1708  he  said  the  Hatteras 
Indians  who  lived  at  Roanoke  Island  or  much  frequented 
it  told  him  several  of  their  ancestors  were  white  people 
and  "could  talk  in  a  book"  as  Lawson  did;  that  he  saw 
frequently  grey  eyes  among  those  Indians  and  among  no 
other  tribes,  and  that  they  valued  themselves  extremely 
for  their  kinship  to  the  English  and  showed  readiness  to 
do  the  most  friendly  offices  for  them.  So  then  the  Cro- 
atans  were  the  Hatorask  or  Hatteras  Indians. 

It  was  in  1730  that  Scotchmen  arrived  in  the  section 
of  the  State  where  the  Croatans  now  are  and  at  the  com- 
ing of  these  their  records  show  that  they  found  on  Lum- 
ber river,  Robeson  county,  a  large  tribe  of  Indians  speak- 
ing English,  farming,  owning  slaves  and  showing  many 
evidences  of  civilization.  These  held  their  lands  in  com- 
mon and  land  titles  became  known  only  after  the  advent 
of  the  whites,  The  first  grant  to  any  of  the  Croatans  is 
dated  in  1732,  being  to  Henry  Berry  and  James  Lowrie, 
two  of  the  leading  men,  and  covered  large  tracts  in  Rob- 
eson county.  The  Croatans  were  found  to  be  hospitable 
and  entirely  friendly  to  their  white  neighbors.  After 
the  white  settlers  began  to  come  in  a  part  of  this  tribe 
went  north  and  settled  around  the  Great  Lakes,  some  of 
their  descendants  now  being  in  Canada,  west  of  Lake 
Ontario,  while  a  number  of  these  people,  described  as 
whites,  emigrated  into  the  great  North  Carolina  moun- 
tain region,  the  tribe  in  Robeson  county  now  claiming 
certain  families  in  western  North  Carolina  to  be,  like 
themselves,   descendenants  of  the  lost  English  colonists. 


THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY— APPENDIX.  183 

When  the  first  whites  arrived  Indians  had  built  excellent 
roads  connecting  their  most  distant  settements  with  the 
principle  seat  of  their  government,  if  so  it  can  be  called, 
which  was  on  the  Lumbee  river,  that  being  the  In- 
dian name  of  what  is  now  termed  the  Lumber  river. 
One  of  these  roads  extends  for  twenty  miles  to  what  is 
called  Fayetteville,  and  their  greatest  highway  yet  bears 
the  name  of  the  "Lowrie  road",  and  is  used  to  this  day, 
extending  from  Fayetteville  through  two  counties  to  an 
old  settlement  on  the  Pee  Dee  river. 

Many  men  of  this  tribe  of  Croatans  served  in  the  Con- 
tinental army  during  the  war  of  the  revolution  and  a 
number  during  the  war  of  1812.  Until  the  year  1835 
they  were  allowed  to  vote  and  to  perform  militia  duty, 
owned  slaves,  built  churches  and  school  houses  and 
lived  comfortably,  many  of  them  after  the  English  man- 
ner, but  a  State  convention  which  met  that  year  denied 
the  right  to  vote  to  all  "free  persons  of  color".  After 
their  disfranchisement  in  1835  the  Indians,  who  rebelled 
against  being  classed  as  mulattoes,  became  suspicious  of 
the  whites  and  it  was  very  difficult  to  get  any  informa- 
tion from  them  regarding  their  history,  though  of  tradi- 
tions they  had  no  end.  The  first  real  investigator  was 
Hamilton  McMillan,  and  strange  to  say  his  investigation 
was  due  to  an  incident  during  the  civil  war.  One  of  the 
greatest  of  all  the  families  of  the  tribe  is  the  Lowries  and 
three  young  men  of  this  tribe,  instead  of  being  sent  to  the 
front  as  soldiers,  were  treated  as  colored  persons,  drafted 
and  sent  to  work  to  build  Fort  Fisher,  the  great  defense 
below  Wilmington.  While  they  were  being  taken  there 
by  a  white  soldier  they  were  killed  by  him,  it  was  be- 
lieved. There  was  an  inquest  and  when  it  was  ended 
George  Lowery,  an  aged  Indian,  made  an  address  to  a 


184  THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY— APPENDIX. 

concourse  of  his  people  in  which  he  said  they  had  al- 
ways been  friends  of  the  white  men;  that  they  were  free 
long  before  the  white  men  ever  came  to  America  and 
had  in  fact  always  been  free;  that  they  lived  in  Roan- 
oke, Virginia,  and  that  when  the  English  came  there 
the  tribe  treated  them  kindly;  that  one  of  the  tribe  was 
taken  to  England  on  an  English  vessel  and  saw  that 
country;  that  the  tribe  had  always  been  friendly  with 
the  white  men  and  taken  the  English  to  live  with  them 
and  that  in  their  veins  was  the  blood  of  white  men  as 
well  as  Indian,  and  that  in  order  to  be  great  like  the 
English  they  had  taken  the  white  man's  language  and 
religion,  for  they  had  been  told  they  would  prosper  if 
they  would  adopt  the  white  men's  ways.  Lowery  said 
further  on  that  in  the  wars  between  white  men  and  In- 
dians his  people  had  always  fought  on  the  side  of  the  white 
men;  that  they  had  moved  to  the  section  where  they 
now  were  and  fought  for  liberty  for  the  white  men,  yet 
the  latter  had  treated  them  as  negroes  and  in  this  case 
had  shot  down  their  young  men  and  given  no  justice 
and  this  in  a  land  where  the  Croatans  had  been  always 
free. 

MR.  MMILLANS  RESEARCHES. 

Hamilton  McMillan  began  his  investigations  in  the 
most  critical  manner  in  1875,  when  his  home  was  in  the 
centre  of  the  Croatan  settlem2nt,  where  he  had  the  best 
opportunities  of  interviewing  leading  men  of  the  tribe. 
The  first  step  was  to  find  the  reason  for  the  striking  En- 
glish names  found  among  the  Croatans,  and  so  these 
were  compared  with  those  on  the  roll  of  white's  lost  col- 
ony. Out  of  the  120  persons  in  that  colony  90  family 
names  were  represented  and  of  these  "White,  Bailey, 
Dare,  Cooper,  Stevens,  Sampson,  Harvie,   Howe,   John- 


THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY— APPENDIX.  185 

son,  "Willes,  Brown,  Smith,  Harris,  Little,  Taylor,  Jones, 
Brooks,  Coleman,  Graham,  Bennett,  Lucas,  "Wilkinson, 
Vicars,  Berry,  Butler,  "Wright,  Allen,  Chapman,  Lasie, 
Cheven,  Paiue,  Scott,  Little,  Martin,  Patterson,  Bridger, 
"Wood,  Powell,  Pierce,  Charman,  Payne  and  Sampson 
are  found  among  the  Croatans  of  this  time.  The  name 
Darr,  Dui  r  and  Dorr  is  variously  used  by  these  people 
and  is  really  Dare.  Their  pronunciation  is  broad  and 
they  use  great  numbers  of  old  English  words.  Families 
bearing  the  names  Dorr  or  Durr  are  to  be  found  in  the 
western  part  of  North  Carolina  and  these  are  claimed  by 
the  Croatans,  who  assert  that  the  Dares,  Coopers,  Har- 
vies  and  a  few  others  retain  the  purity  of  blood  and 
were  generally  the  pioneers  of  immigration. 

They  have  a  tradition  of  their  leader  or  chief  who 
went  to  England  but  have  not  preserved  his  name, 
speaking  of  him  as  Mayno  or  Maynor,  but  a  woman 
of  great  age  spoke  of  their  head  man  as"Wanoake,  which 
may  be  a  corruption  of  Roanoke. 

The  name  Mayno  is  quite  common  among  them  and 
represents  in  their  tongue  a  quiet  and  law-abiding  peo- 
ple. 

The  great  difficulty  has  been  to  ascertain  the  date 
when  the  Croatans  left  the  coast  country  for  the  inte- 
rior, but  it  seems  certain  that  they  have  lived  in 
Robeson  county  over  220  years.  The  traditions 
universal  among  them  show  they  were  seated  there 
long  before  the  great  war  with  the  Tuscaroras  began  in 
1711.  It  seems  that  in  their  friendship  for  the  whites, 
some  of  the  Croatans  fought  under  Colonel  Branwell, 
who  was  in  command  of  the  troops  and  friendly  Indians 
sent  up  from  South  Carolina  to  aid  the  North  Caroli- 
na settlers  in    crushing   the  Tuscaroras   after    the   great 


186  THE  LOWRIE   HISTORY— APPENDIX. 

massacre  by  the  latter.     The  tradition  goes  further  that 

the  Croatans  in  this  war  had  taken  a  number  of  Matta- 

muskett  Indians  prisoners  and  took  the  latter  back  with 

them    to   Robeson   as   slaves,   the  decendants  of   these 

Mattamusketts  yet  living  there  and  claiming  this  decent, 

some  of  them  being  able  to  locate  the  region  where  their 

ancestors  lived.      It  is  to  be  noticed  that    the   Croatans 

always  speak  of  "Virginia"  as  he  place  where  their  people 

lived.      They  mean  the  Virginia  of  Sir  Walter  Raleigh's 

founding. 

TARDY  JUSTICE. 

The  tardy  justice  which  North  Carolina  gave  to  these 
strange  and  most  interesting  people  came  to  them  in  the 
spring  of  1885,  and  when  the  act  of  the  Legislature  rec- 
ognizing them  as  Croatan  Indians  was  publicly  read,  an 
aged  Indian,  a  very  intelligent  man,  remarked  that  he 
had  always  heard  his  ancestors  called  Hatteras  Indians. 
There  are  those  who  believe  that  the  settlement  on  the 
Lumber  river  was  made  as  early  as  1650,  for  French 
Huguenots,  exiled  from  their  homes,  who  found  refuge 
in  South  Carolina,  sent  certain  of  their  number  as  settlers 
to  North  Carolina  in  1709  and  these  found  the  Croatans 
with  good  farms  and  roads  and  evidently  long  settled 
there. 

The  language  spoken  by  the  Croatans  is  a  very  pure 
but  quaint  old  Anglo-Saxon  and  there  are  in  daily  use 
some  75  words  which  have  come  down  from  the  great 
days  of  Raleigh  and  his  mighty  mistress,  Queen  Eliza- 
beth. These  old  Saxon  words  arrest  attention  instant- 
ly. For  man  they  say  "mon,"  pronounce  "father" 
"feyther;"  use  mension  for  measurement;  ax  for  ask; 
hosen  for  hose;  lovend  for  loving;   wit  for  knowledge; 


THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY— APPENDIX.  187 

housen  for  houses.  Many  of  the  words  in  daily  use  by 
them  have  for  many  a  long  year  been  entirely  absolete 
in  English  speaking  countries.  Their  homes  have  al- 
ways been  neat  in  the  extreme  and  they  are  very  hos- 
pitable to  strangers  and  always  ready  to  befriend  white 
people.  They  are  intensely  proud  and  boast  alike  of 
their  English  and  their  Indian  ancestors  and  blood. 
"While  their  disposition  is  peaceable  they  will  fight  des- 
perately when  aroused.  They  are  shy  as  a  race,  though 
under  the  new  conditions  and  in  the  more  Catholic 
spirit  which  now  prevails  they  are  coming  into  the 
open.  Their  life  has  been  away  from  crowds  of  other 
races  and  their  homes  away  from  the  public  roads. 
Some  of  them  now  show  their  Indian  traits  even  more 
strongly  than  they  did  a  century  ago.  Their  English 
love  for  good  roads  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  they  have 
been  and  yet  are  great  road  builders  and  have  always 
had  the  best  public  roads  in  the  State.  No  special  cen- 
sus has  been  taken  of  them,  but  the  number  is  said  to  be 
notlessthan  5,000,  of  which  more  than  half  are  in  Robeson 
county.  There  are  about  1,500  children  of  school  age, 
of  these  the  roll  having  been  made.  The  State  has  pro- 
vided a  separate  normal  school  for  these  people;  the 
Governor  has  addessed  them;  they  are  being  aroused 
to  fresh  pride  in  their  ancestry  and  in  learning  and  their 
development  is  becoming  rapid.  The  Legislature  took 
every  step  to  safeguard  these  people  and  amended  the 
general  law  by  declaring  null  and  void  any  and  all 
marriages  between  Croatan  Indians  and  persons  of 
negro  decent  to  the  third  generation  inclusive. 

They  are  quick-witted  people.  One  of  them  was  ex- 
United  States  Senator  Revels,  of  Mississippi,  who  was 
classed    as    a     mulatto    while    really    a     Croatan     who 


188  THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY— APPENDIX. 

was  born  in  Robeson  county.  The  Croatans  are  almost 
universally  owners  of  land  and  in  Robeson  county  thus 
occupy  a  territory  of  more  than  60,000  acres,  all  owned 
by  them.  They  are  now  beginning  themselves  to  look 
more  closely  into  traditions  and  some  of  their  leaders 
state  that  the  traditions  of  every  family  which  bears  the 
name  of  one  of  the  lost  colonists  point  to  the  Roanoke 
country  as  that  of  their  ancestors,  it  being  a  further  tra- 
dition that  long  after  they  left  the  coast  country  and 
went  into  the  interior  they  held  communication  with 
the  poople  on  the  coast  and  it  may  have  been  some  of 
these  very  up  country  Croatans,  visiting  their  former 
home,  who  were  seen  by  Lawson  in  1708  and  who  spoke 
of  their  ancestors  as  persons  who  could  "talk  in  a  book". 
Early  French,  English,  Irish  and  German  immigrants 
who  came  among  the  Croatans  in  the  Robeson  section 
seem  to  have  frequently  married  these  Indians.  The 
name  Chavis,  now  common,  is  a  corruption  of  a  French 
name,  as  also  Blaux,  while  Leary  was  O'Leary.  In 
building  they  show  much  skill.  They  have  the  Endian 
love  for  bright  colors  and  when  walking  in  bodies  they 
march  in  Indian  file,  one  behind  the  other.  They 
brought  with  them  from  the  coast  country  the  love  of 
tobacco  and  the  knowledge  of  how  to  grow  it  and  the 
earliest  visitors  to  the  Robeson  section  found  patches  of 
tobacco  near  their  houses.  They  never  forget  an  obli- 
gation or  a  debt,  nor  do  they  forget  a  kindness  or  an  in- 
sult. A  century  ago  they  had  good  inns  for  travelers. 
Their  women  are  extremely  handsome  and  the  most 
noted  one  among  them  now  is  Rhoda  Lowrie,  the  wid- 
ow of  Henry  Berry  Lowrie,  a  famous  outlaw.  State 
Auditor  Dixon  recently  visited  the  Croatans  and  spoke 
to  a  great  assemblage  of  them  at  Pates,   the  location  of 


THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY— APPENDIX.  189 

their  normal  college.  There  he  saw  Rhoda,  who  used 
to  be  a  great  beauty.  Her  husband's  father  and  sev- 
eral other  Croatans,  not  recognized  then  as  whites  or 
Indians,  but  as  negroes,  when  sent  to  work  during  the 
civil  war  on  the  forts,  left  and  went  home,  were  pur- 
sued by  the  Home  Guard  and  several  were  shot,  being 
classed  as  deserters.  Henry  Berry  Lowrie  was  then 
only  a  youth,  but  he  swore  by  the  blood  of  his  ances- 
tors that  he  would  kill  every  one  of  the  Home  Guard 
who  had  shot  his  father.  He  kept  this  terrible  oath  to 
the  letter,  except  in  the  case  of  one  of  the  Home  Guard, 
who  fled  the  State  to  escape  the  swift  and  sure  death 
which  had  come  to  his  comrades.  Lowrie  associated 
with  himself  other  daring  spirits  and  it  required  State 
militia  and  even  Federal  troops  to  crush  out  what  came 
to  be  known  as  the  "Lowrie  outlaws".  Their  leader 
accidentally  killed  himself  with  his  gun;  his  brother, 
Steve,  for  whom  a  reward,  of  $5,000  was  offered  by  the 
State,  was  shot  from  ambush,  and  the  trouble  was 
quelled,  but  not  before  many  a  white  man  had  been 
killed,  and  a  reign  of  terror  existed  which  attracted  na- 
tional attention  and  brought  about  action  by  the  Presi- 
dent and  the  War  Department. 

INFLUENCE  OF  ENGLISH. 

The  dominating  influence  of  the  English  upon  this 
race  has  been  shown  very  clearly  by  the  language  and 
by  the  customs,  which  have  retained  nothing  of  the  sav- 
age. There  are  no  Indian  words  in  use,  nor  have  there 
been  these  hundred  years  or  more,  and  there  are  no 
Indian  customs.  The  Indian  is  shown,  however,  in 
some  of  the  facial  characteristics,  in  the  physique,  and 
in   the   walk,    the  latter  having  much  of  the  red  man's 


190  THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY— APPENDIX. 

stride  and  swing,  which  when  once  seen  is  not  to  be  for- 
gotten. The  carriag3  of  the  womsn  is  superb,  and 
they  unconsciously  look  like  statues  in  some  of  their 
poses.  Their  color  is  very  rich,  their  figure  ample  and 
graceful  in  every  outline. 

Of  course  there  are  doubters  and  among  historians, 
too,  as  to  the  status  of  these  people,  and  there  are  those 
who  believe  that  they  are  a  mixture  or  blend  of  the  first 
white  settlers  who  it  is  claimed  pushed  up  into  that  re- 
gion from  Charleston,  S.  C,  and  the  Indians  of  that  lo- 
cality. A  comparison  of  the  typical  Croatan  and  one  of 
the  Roanoke  Island  Indians  as  painted  with  extreme 
care  by  John  White,  Sir  Walter  Raleigh's  great  artist, 
shows  many  points  of  resemblance  between  that  race 
and  the  present  day  Croatans,  among  whom  splendid 
figures  are  the  rule  rater  than  the  exception. 

ONE  ARGUMENT  AS  TO  RALEIGH'S  COLONISTS. 

The  argument  has  been  advanced  by  some  that  Ral- 
eigh's colonists  when  they  left  Roanoke  Island,  did  not 
go  to  the  southward,  but  that  they  went  to  the  northeast, 
and  that  they  fixed  themselves  about  the  point  where 
Avoca  now  is,  in  Bertie  county,  and  that  they  there 
built  themselves  substantial  houses;  that  the  Indians  fell 
upon  them,  under  the  leadership  of  Wanchese  or  some 
of  his  friends,  and  massacred  almost  all,  great  rivers  be- 
ing on  either  side,  which  the  colonists  could  not  cross, 
but  that  the  Indians  spared  a  few,  including  "a  young 
mayde";  that  those  captured  were  taken  further  up  the 
country  and  that  the  Englishmen  of  their  number  were 
made  to  build  houses,  partly  at  least  of  stone,  for  their 
Indian  masters,  and  that  it  was  these  houses  and  these 
captives  of  whom  Captain  John  Smith  heard  and  whom 


THE  LOWRIE  HISTORY-APPENDIX.  191 

he  made  note,  the  information  concerning  them  having 
been  brought  by  Indian  runners  to  him  and  his  colonists 
at  Jamestown.  Those  who  hold  this  view  that  the  col- 
onists after  leaving  Roanoke  Island  went  towards  the 
northwest  and  settled  as  above  stated,  say  that  Governor 
"White  and  other  leaders  had  been  up  into  that  part  of 
the  country  and  had  fixed  on  this  as  a  place  better  for 
a  settlement  than  Roanoke  Island,  which  was  and  is  ex- 
tremely isolated  and  in  a  section  subject  to  storms,  there 
being  entirely  open  water  all  about.  To  get  to  Avoca 
the  colonists  had  a  very  good  boat,  of  sufficient  size  to 
carry  them.  Those  who  hold  this  view  believe  further 
that  the  Indians  with  blue  eyes  and  fair  hair  and  ruddy 
complexions  who  were  seen  by  latter  explorers  on  the 
North  Carolina  coast  were  not  the  descendants  of  the 
Lost  Colony  at  all  but  of  Indian  women  and  of  the  first 
party  of  Englishmen  put  ashore,  the  latter  not  being  on 
Roanoke  Island,  but  on  one  of  the  long  sand-banks  be- 
tween that  island  and  the  sea,  which  form  a  barrier  be- 
tween the  sea  and  the  sounds  which  have  always  marked 
the  North  Carolina  coast. 

EVIDENCE  OF  RELICS. 

There  has  recently  been  found  in  Robeson  county,  in 
the  heart  of  the  Croatan  settlement,  an  iron  tomahawk, 
such  as  were  described  by  Col.  William  Byrd  as  sold 
along  the  great  Indian  "trading  path"  and  along  the 
"Lowery  Road"  by  traders  early  in  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury, Another  find  is  an  ancient  cross-bow  of  the  En- 
glish make  and  model,  of  the  type  which  was  still  used 
in  Queen  Elizabeth's  time.  This  bow  bears  the  marks  of 
much  use.      A  hand-mill  of  the  most  primitive   type,  but 


192  THE  LOWRIE   HISTORY— APPENDIX 

showing  very  clearly  its  English  origin,  has  also  been 
found  in  one  of  the  Croatan  houses,  with  the  tradition 
that  it  had  been  used  by  their  people  before  they  moved 
from  the  coast  country.  There  are  a  number  of  Croa- 
tans  in  the  county  of  Cumberland  and  there  was  a  stone 
church  near  the  present  village  of  Hope  Mills.  The 
church  itself  is  gone,  but  the  foundation  of  brown  stone 
can  be  seen  plainly. 

Thus  linked  together  the  history  of  the  Lost  Colony  of 
Roanoke  and  that  of  the  most  interesting  of  Indians  on 
this  continent;  interesting  because  in  the  blending  of 
their  English  blood  there  comes  down  through  the  cen- 
turies so  much  of  the  old  world  and  the  new;  of  the 
great  Raleigh,  the  master  spirit  of  his  age,  and  of  the 
Indians  along  this  coast,  who  seem  to  have  been  models 
of  their  race;  a  strange  linking  of  those  first  baptisms  of 
the  baby  white  girl  and  the  Indian  king,  and  of  the  new 
awakening  of  education  and  hope  and  pride  among  the 
Croatans,  to  whom  North  Carolina  at  last  holds  out  the 
hand  of  recognition. 


Do  You  Want  to  Buy  a  Home 

OR  AN 

INSURANCE  POLICY? 

ir      SO      APPLY      TO      THE      UNDERSIGNED 


THE  LaFAYETTE  MUTUAL  LIFE  INSURANCE  CO. 

PAYETTEVILLE,  N.  C. 

Offers  the  best  opportunity  to  make  good  for  the  whole 
community  above  any  other  institution  in  existence.  The 
Company  commenced  business  on  July  4th,  1909,  and  has 
at  the  present  time  over  400  policies  in  force.  The  Com- 
pany has  assets  for  the  protection  of  its  policy-holders  to 
an  amount  in  excess  of  $10,000.00. 

The  management  of  this  company  is  the  most  economical  of 
any  Life  Insurance  Company  ever  organized.  As  an  evi- 
dence of  this  fact  the  Company  has  already  over  $1,000.00 
earned  surplus,  belonging  to  the  policy-holders. 

For  further  information  write,  phone,  or  telegraph 

JE.  E.  F»A.GE,  Supt.  of  Agents, 

LUyYlBERTON.  n.  c 


Price  50  Cts. 


FRKCMAN   PRINTING   COMPANY 

LUMimrsx,  n.  e 


i 


::; 


i 


